Case of illegal currency exchange bureaux: seizure of over 630 million hryvnias is largest in the history of BES, - Tsivinsky. PHOTOS
Oleksandr Tsivinskyi, Director of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine, stated that the seizure of over 630 million hryvnias in various currencies during an operation against a shadow financial network was the largest cash seizure in the history of the Economic Security Bureau.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the press office of the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine.
According to him, EBS detectives carried out the large-scale operation jointly with the Office of the Prosecutor General. As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers conducted 30 simultaneous searches.
Tsivinsky noted that this involved a network of illegal currency exchange points through which, according to the investigation, tens of billions of hryvnias were siphoned off from the legal financial system every year.
"Cash, mobile phones, equipment, and off-the-books accounts – these are just the things visible in the footage. Behind this lie months of analysis, establishing links and the work of detectives," said the director of the BES.
According to the investigation, the network’s activities were coordinated from a single centre. Law enforcement officers also discovered a special button which, when activated, could block access to the off-the-books financial records.
During the searches, detectives seized cash in various currencies, mobile phones, computer equipment and documents.
Focus on the highest-risk schemes
Tsivinsky emphasised that, given its limited resources, the Bureau is focusing on schemes that pose the greatest risks to the state budget.
"And all this is taking place alongside performance appraisals, a complex recruitment process and a critical staff shortage," he added.
The pre-trial investigation into the case of money laundering is ongoing.
