The National Police extradited from Armenia the organizer of a fraudulent scheme through which volunteers and military personnel lost over 20 million hryvnias
The National Police of Ukraine has extradited from Armenia the organizer of a large-scale fraudulent scheme, through which volunteers and military personnel lost over 20 million hryvnias. This was reported by the press service of the National Police.
The investigation established that the man created a criminal group of three accomplices and organized his activities through fictitious online stores and pages on social networks. They published ads for the sale of cars, tires, drones, and thermal imagers, supposedly intended for the needs of the Ukrainian military.
To gain trust, the group members posed as volunteers, posted photos from the front, reports of “army assistance” and actively used patriotic symbols. Their prices were significantly lower than market prices – SUVs were sold 30–40% cheaper, explaining this by “volunteer discounts” or “delivery directly from Europe”.
After receiving the advance payment, which sometimes reached hundreds of thousands of hryvnias, the attackers disappeared – they stopped contacting each other, blocked phone numbers and pages on social networks. The funds received were transferred to fake accounts and withdrawn in cash through ATMs. The total amount of losses exceeded 20 million hryvnias.
Investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, with the support of the Kyiv Region Cyber Police and in cooperation with the Department of International Police Cooperation, identified all participants in the criminal scheme, documented their activities and blocked financial channels. The organizer and three of his accomplices were notified of suspicion of committing a crime under Part 3 of Article 27 and Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – fraud committed on an especially large scale by prior conspiracy of a group of persons.
In 2023, indictments against three accomplices were sent to court. They face up to twelve years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The organizer himself fled Ukraine after being exposed, which is why he was put on the international wanted list. In June 2025, he was detained in Armenia, and on October 28, he was handed over to Ukrainian law enforcement officers at the international checkpoint “Krakivets” on the Ukrainian-Polish border. He has now been brought to Ukraine for questioning and the selection of a preventive measure at the Pechersky District Court of Kyiv.
The punishment for organizing a fraudulent scheme committed on a particularly large scale by prior conspiracy of a group of persons is up to twelve years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
