Fraudsters who appropriated over 100 drones for AFU and defrauded volunteers and sellers of UAH 11 million exposed - Prosecutor General’s Office. PHOTOS
Three people were served a notice of suspicion on the fact of fraud committed on a large scale by an organised group under martial law. The criminals defrauded volunteers, appropriated more than 100 drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and defrauded sellers of UAH 11 million.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the press centre of the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to the investigation, the criminal group was organised by a resident of Ternopil, involving 2 other people. The suspects gained the trust of volunteers and the military by offering them quadcopters from abroad at low prices. To avoid arousing suspicion, the fraudsters registered a sole proprietorship for a fictitious person and first supplied customers with trial batches of 3-5 units with partial prepayment. After that, they offered to buy large batches of goods at an even lower price, but with a full prepayment. When the victims transferred the money, the offenders stopped contacting them and blocked their contacts.
The money received was immediately transferred to crypto wallets or accounts of fictitious business entities, from where the accomplices withdrew it and divided it among themselves. Law enforcement officers tracked and documented all these transactions.
At the same time, the suspects defrauded not only buyers but also sellers of quadcopters. Buying small batches with deferred payment, they paid in full, and then ordered more and cut off all communication. Over the course of 9 months, they defrauded at least 9 people for a total of UAH 10.7 million.
During the searches of residences and workplaces in Kyiv, Ternopil and Lviv, 53 DJI Mavic quadcopters, precious metals, a significant amount of cash in various currencies, cars, mobile phones, computer equipment, financial statements and other items containing evidence of the crimes were seized.
The issue of choosing a measure of restraint for the suspects is being decided.
Other persons are being checked for involvement in the commission of crimes.
