A woman was convicted in Odessa for selling fake diplomas

A woman in Odesa was sentenced for manufacturing and selling counterfeit diplomas and birth certificates as part of an organized group to facilitate illegal border crossings. She was sentenced to five years in prison, with a three-year probationary period.

This is stated in the verdict of the Primorsky District Court of Odessa.

The court also barred the defendant from engaging in any activities related to the production of documents for a period of one year and required her to report periodically to probation authorities.

During the court hearing, the defendant fully admitted her guilt.

Investigators found that, starting in April 2024, the defendant, together with her accomplices, had set up a large-scale scheme for the production and sale of forged documents. The perpetrators created special websites and accounts on messaging apps, through which they found “clients.” The forged documents were sent to people via “Nova Poshta.”

The court identified several instances of the criminal scheme in action. For example, in April 2024, a forged bachelor’s degree from one of Kyiv’s universities, along with its transcript, was sold. The buyer paid 15,000 hryvnias for it. In May and June 2024, a birth certificate for a nonexistent child was produced and delivered to the customer for 15,000 hryvnias. In November 2024, the customers received a bachelor’s degree and another birth certificate for a nonexistent child, for which they paid 18,000 hryvnias.

Forensic examinations confirmed that the document forms did not match official templates in terms of printing methods and security features, and that the UV and IR security features were counterfeit. The university also stated that it had not issued the diplomas in question and that the holders had not studied at the institution.

The forged documents were produced using specialized equipment, blank forms, and counterfeit holographic security features. For the most part, the forged documents were used by citizens to obtain illegal advantages, in particular to leave Ukraine while martial law was in effect.

Юлія Калабайда