In Ternopil, law enforcement officers exposed a group of postal service workers who were misappropriating drones intended for the military and selling them at discounted prices. About this reported Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine.
The organizers of the criminal scheme turned out to be two residents of Ternopil, one of whom at that time worked as the head of the postal service branch. He involved his subordinates in fraudulent activities.
Criminals seized drones from postal items sent for the needs of the Ukrainian military, and replaced them with unnecessary items of similar weight and size. The repackaged parcels continued their way to the recipients, while the stolen drones were sold over the Internet at below-market prices.
Criminals received payment for the sale of drones to the bank accounts of fictitious persons or crypto wallets. One of the participants even registered a business activity (FOP) to legalize payments.
A total of 26 shipments were appropriated, the value of which is estimated at almost 6 million hryvnias.
In the course of the investigation, the cyber police, together with the National Police investigators, conducted 14 searches in the Lviv region and Kyiv, during which 15 mobile phones, computer equipment, 25 bank cards, documents and draft records confirming illegal activity were seized.
The police also blocked the digital assets on the crypto-wallets of the attackers.
The extras were informed of suspicion under the article on the appropriation of property in particularly large amounts (Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Criminals face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions for three years. The court chose preventive measures for the suspects in the form of personal commitments and night house arrest.
