Aug. 25, 2025, 4:45 p.m.
(PHOTO: Police in Odesa region)
Police detained four men suspected of spreading criminal influence and organizing gambling in Odesa region.
According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, one of the detainees, a shadowy curator of Izmail, had authority among criminals, controlled local groups and kept the so-called common cash register of criminals.
To multiply criminal funds, he set up an underground casino. He entrusted three of his subordinates to control all the processes there. Despite strict secrecy and security measures, the police documented their illegal activities.
On August 22, police operatives together with detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security in Odesa region liquidated the casino. They seized more than 22 thousand dollars, 5 thousand 850 euros, 73 thousand hryvnias, gambling chips with different denominations, notebooks with drafts, playing cards, gambling chips with denominations from 100 to 25 thousand, etc.
The curator is currently in custody without the right to be released on bail. As for the others, the issue of choosing a preventive measure is being decided. According to the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, the organizer of the poker club had previously come to the attention of law enforcement. Currently, he has the status of an accused in two criminal proceedings. In different cases, he is charged with hooliganism with weapons, intentional bodily harm, robbery with violence, and aggravated robbery. For about a year, law enforcement officers documented the crime, collecting irrefutable evidence of the spread of criminal influence and coordination of criminal activities of others.
Кирило Бойко