Organiser of scheme to sell non-existent cars to Armed Forces extradited from Estonia. PHOTOS
Police have extradited from Estonia the organiser of a scheme to sell non-existent cars to the Ukrainian Armed Forces – the military’s monthly losses exceeded 5 million hryvnias.
This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine, according to Censor.NET.
Details
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, members of the criminal organisation have been posting numerous online advertisements for the sale and delivery of cars from Europe at below-market prices.
They operated on various platforms, used fictitious personal details and posed as customs brokers, car transporter drivers, volunteers and employees of charitable foundations – most often Serhiy Prytula’s foundation.
"A typical case: a soldier found an advert on social media for the sale of equipment at a reduced price, paid a deposit, after which he was asked to provide documents and record a video of thanks ‘for reporting purposes’. He never received the equipment, his money was not returned, and the video was used to deceive other soldiers," the police reported.
The organiser of the scheme is a Ukrainian citizen who had previously been prosecuted abroad and had been notified of suspicion of fraud in Ukraine.
After establishing the suspect’s whereabouts in Estonia, he was detained and, as part of the extradition procedure and in coordination with the Department of International Police Cooperation, handed over to Ukraine.
The court has now ordered the suspect to be remanded in custody without the right to bail.
Work is ongoing to identify other members of the criminal organisation who are abroad — locating and arresting them is the next stage of the police operation.
