Woman avoids prison for scheme with maritime documents in Odesa region

In Izmail, a court found guilty a participant in a scheme to illegally smuggle men of military age abroad using fake sea documents. The woman acted as part of an organized group.

This is stated in the verdict of the Izmail City District Court of Odesa Oblast.

According to the investigation, no later than November 2024, the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy with two co-organizers and other unidentified persons. The group created a scheme that allowed men to avoid mobilization and illegally leave Ukraine under the guise of crew members of foreign vessels. The mechanism included several elements: production of fictitious documents, registration of the "client" as a crew member of the vessel and promised "assistance" during border control.

According to the case file, the woman organized fictitious training at the seafarers' training center of Trainmar LLC and the training center of Mykolaiv Center for Crew Training LLC.

The group's services had a clear "tariff grid":

• UAH 18,000 - for the production of fake certificates of assignment or upgrade of worker qualifications;
• USD 1,000 for a fake seafarer's identity card;
• USD 200 for unimpeded passage of checkpoints on the Odesa-Reni highway near Palanka;
• EUR 4,500 - for inclusion in the crew of a foreign river-sea vessel calling at the Izmail seaport and ensuring unimpeded border crossing;
• UAH 1,000 for verification of forged educational and qualification documents at the State Service of Maritime and Inland Water Transport.

A separate part of the scheme was the inclusion of "clients" in the manning roles of foreign river-sea vessels that were to call at the Izmail and Reni seaports. This allowed the men to cross the border without being checked. The scheme also included illegal influence on officials of the State Border Guard Service.

The key to exposing the organized group was a man who asked for a service, but after receiving an offer to illegally cross the border, informed law enforcement. With his consent, investigators organized confidential cooperation, during which he recorded meetings with group members, received instructions from them and passed evidence to the investigation.

The woman was found guilty under three articles of the Criminal Code: organization of illegal transportation of people across the border (Part 3 of Article 332), forgery of official documents (Part 3 of Article 358) and promise to influence the decision of officials for a bribe (Part 2 of Article 369-2). She entered into a plea agreement. The court took into account that this was her first offense, her advanced age (65), health problems and difficult financial situation.

She was sentenced to 5 years in prison for the aggregate of crimes. At the same time, she was released from actually serving her sentence with probation for 3 years if she does not commit new offenses and fulfills her duties. The bail of UAH 399,696 was returned to the pledgers.

An Odesa border guard was also found guilty of corruption and sentenced to a real term. He earned money by letting men who were banned from leaving the country across the border for money. The court sentenced him to two years in prison.

Анна Бальчінос