Former bank executive from Odesa region disappears on suspicion of loan fraud

In Odesa, a court allowed the detention of a former head of a bank branch who is wanted on suspicion of a loan scam. According to the investigation, the woman, together with her accomplices, issued fictitious loans and misappropriated the bank's money.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Ovidiopol District Court of Odesa Region.

According to the investigation, the head of the PrivatBank branch in Velykodolynske organized a criminal scheme together with two accomplices back in 2007, using her official position to issue forged documents and withdraw funds.

One of the accomplices, who had experience in the banking sector, developed the scheme: they found fictitious persons to take out loans, and the bank disbursed money to them on the basis of fictitious certificates of employment and income.

These certificates were made with forged seals and signatures, allegedly on behalf of local businesses. In fact, none of the "borrowers" worked for the companies in question, and no one was going to return the money.

The accomplices immediately cashed out the funds received on the fictitious persons' credit cards through ATMs. Part of the amount was kept for themselves, the rest was transferred to the organizers of the scheme.

According to the investigation, in just a few months of operation, the group caused particularly large losses to the bank. Experts estimate the exact amount of damage at several million hryvnias.

The former banker is suspected of misappropriation of property through abuse of office, forgery and participation in an organized group (part 3 of Article 28, part 5 of Article 191, part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

In 2017, she was officially notified of suspicion, but immediately afterwards she disappeared and has been hiding from the investigation for a long time. Her whereabouts are still unknown.

Law enforcement officers repeatedly summoned her to court, but to no avail. As a result, the prosecutor filed a motion with the court for permission to detain the suspect for the purpose of compulsory detention.

The court agreed with the investigation's arguments - the suspect could evade responsibility, influence witnesses, and even commit new crimes. Now, law enforcement officers have the right to detain her and bring her to the Ovidiopol District Court, where the issue of choosing a preventive measure - most likely, detention - will be decided.

And in late October, two Odesa residents created a fake TikTok page, allegedly raising money for the Armed Forces on behalf of the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces. Under the pretext of helping the military, they misappropriated the funds raised.

Since the beginning of the year, 2,955 cases of fraud have been registered in Odesa region, which is more than in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions combined.

Анна Бальчінос