Helping military to flee abroad for money: criminal group exposed in Ternopil region. PHOTOS
In Ternopil region, a criminal group that arranged escapes from military units and transfers abroad for money was exposed.
This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office, Censor.NET reports.
"The illegal scheme was organised by residents of Chernivtsi region, assisted by a lawyer from Lviv, a resident of Ternopil and five other residents of Bukovyna. In exchange for money, they helped servicemen to leave military units, training centres, hospitals and illegally transported them to Romania and Moldova outside official checkpoints.
The suspects were looking for those who wanted to leave military service and persuaded them to escape. They assured the soldiers that they would not be put on the wanted list, as they had influential connections with the military command. They also promised to help the soldiers to resign from military service," the statement said.
The cost of transportation to the starting point from the unit ranged from USD 3,000 to USD 6,000, while the price of the direct crossing reached USD 15,000. The "services" were used by 25 servicemen.
During the searches, UAH 164,000, USD 21,000, EUR 2,000, 12 vehicles, 17 weapons, mobile phones and draft records were seized from the suspects.
At present, 9 members of the group have been served a notice of suspicion on the fact of illegal trafficking of persons across the state border of Ukraine and obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Part 3 of Article 332, Article 114 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
A petition has been filed to choose a measure of restraint for them. The involvement of other persons in the crime is being checked.
