Large-scale timber theft scheme exposed in Volyn region: organiser commited suicide. PHOTOS
The members of the criminal organisation illegally cut down trees worth over UAH 6.4 million in the forest land of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine". As it turned out, six forestry employees were involved in the embezzlement scheme.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the press service of the National Police.
Who is involved in the fraud?
Operatives of the Volyn Department of the Internal Security Department of the National Police, together with the Volyn region police, established the involvement of 15 residents of the Kamin-Kashyrskyi district in the illegal logging of timber from forest areas of one of the branches of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine".
How did the attackers act?
For a long period of time, the offenders were felling trees in the forestry without any permits.
They mainly worked with pine, birch, oak, alder and hornbeam. The felled trees were transported to private sawmills where they were processed and sold to the public. The money from the illegal activity was distributed among themselves.
Forestry officials involved in the fraud
Among the participants in the criminal business were six forestry employees. It has been established that between April and October 2024, the illegal activities of the loggers caused serious environmental damage in excess of UAH 6.4 million.
Several dozens of authorised searches were conducted at the suspects' places of residence and more than UAH 2 million in various currencies, trucks, undocumented timber and other property, which is evidence of their illegal activities, were seized.
The organiser committed suicide
Based on the results of the examinations and the evidence collected, the main offenders were served a notice of suspicion under Part 4 of Article 246 (Illegal logging or illegal transportation, storage, sale of timber), Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 255 (Creation, management of a criminal community or criminal organisation, as well as participation in it) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The organiser of the criminal scheme committed suicide after being exposed. The investigation is ongoing.
The offenders face up to 12 years in prison for their actions.
