A gang led by a crime boss was arrested in Odesa

A group was exposed in Odesa that had kidnapped a man and demanded $1 million from him, allegedly for a debt. The suspects also attempted to seize his real estate and took 12 trucks.

According to the National Police, the group was led by a crime boss nicknamed “The Italian.” Its members also included individuals who had previously been part of the organized crime group “Multika.”

<picture></picture>PHOTO: Press Service of the National Police of Ukraine

Investigators determined that the men had been pressuring the businessman and his wife for a long time. In mid-October, at a computer club in Mykolaiv, one of the suspects beat the victim and, under threat, forced him to sign a receipt for an alleged debt of one million dollars.

A few days later, during a meeting in Odesa, the ringleader began demanding money and the transfer of property ownership, threatening physical violence. Subsequently, two members of the group ambushed the businessman in a parking lot near a gym and beat him, reminding him of the need to repay the money.

<picture></picture>PHOTO: Press Service of the National Police of Ukraine

The attackers took the man’s personal documents and real estate papers. They demanded that he transfer ownership of an apartment in Kyiv, as well as a plot of land with a residential house in the Odesa region, to them.

In addition, the suspects seized 12 trucks. Three trucks, registered to an acquaintance of the victim, were taken to a vehicle dismantling yard in one of the villages in the Odesa region. Another nine trucks were driven to the grounds of a farm.

During the abduction, the man was kept under constant surveillance by one of the group’s members. According to police, the perpetrators also took his documents and restricted his ability to move about on his own.

On November 6, law enforcement officers detained three suspects. One of them was caught in the act while finalizing the transfer of ownership of the victim’s land and house at a notary’s office. The ringleader and another suspect were detained that same day.

During searches in the Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Vinnytsia regions, law enforcement officers seized the victim’s MAN trucks and semi-trailers, two cars, over 100,000 hryvnias in national and foreign currency, as well as three smoothbore hunting rifles.

On November 7, four men were notified that they were suspected of extortion and unlawful deprivation of liberty or kidnapping. All suspects were taken into custody.

Under these charges, they face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Ірина Глухова