In Odesa region, pseudo-volunteers raised money for cars for the Armed Forces

Police in Odesa region detained five members of a group that extorted money from citizens by promising to bring cars from Europe for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This was reported by the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast.

According to the investigation, the criminals posted ads for the sale of cars on marketplaces and social media. Posing as volunteers, managers, or logisticians, they convinced buyers of the need to make an advance payment for transportation, customs clearance, and paperwork. After receiving the money, the connection with the sellers was cut off.

They would withdraw the money to the bank cards of fictitious persons, the so-called drops, and withdraw it from ATMs. The Criminal Investigation Department operatives, together with other units of the Criminal Police Unit, found that residents of 14 regions of Ukraine were caught by the scammers. Law enforcers documented 20 criminal episodes of the exposed group, which resulted in losses of more than UAH 1.2 million. However, operational information suggests that there are many more victims, so the documentation activities continue.

According to the investigation, the organizer, co-organizer of the group and executors of the transactions are young men from Odesa district. Several drops from Kyiv and Dnipro regions were also identified. As a result of searches at the residences of the group members, the police seized computer equipment, mobile phones, vehicles of the suspects, money and other material evidence that is essential for the pre-trial investigation.

Almost all members of the criminal group, including the organizer and co-organizer, were detained and seven suspects were served suspicion notices of fraud, including fraud committed in a particularly large scale, by an organized group, repeatedly.

The court imposed on the suspects custody with the right to be released on bail and house arrest. If found guilty, the men face up to twelve years in prison with confiscation of property.

Кирило Бойко