Foreigners defrauded of 1.6 million hryvnias: Ukrainian and Czech law enforcement officers have uncovered fraudulent scheme. VIDEO+PHOTOS
Ukrainian and Czech law enforcement agencies have uncovered an international fraud scheme in which the perpetrators defrauded foreign nationals under the guise of investment via an online platform.
According to Censor.NET, this information comes from the National Police of Ukraine.
How the scheme operated
According to the investigation, the suspects set up a call centre in Turkey. Its operators posed as employees of an investment platform and persuaded victims to invest money, promising profits from trading in financial instruments.
To do this, they used a fake investment platform and persuaded people to install remote access programmes. This allowed them to gain access to the victims’ computers, online banking accounts and crypto wallets.
The funds were then transferred to accounts under their control, and accomplices in Ukraine converted them into cryptocurrency and distributed them via a network of crypto wallets.
Searches and seized property
Ukrainian and Czech law enforcement officers carried out 12 authorised searches in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Lviv.
During the investigations, computer equipment, mobile phones, tablets, digital storage media, hardware crypto wallets, bank documents, draft records, over 250,000 hryvnias, 25,000 US dollars in cash and five premium and business-class cars were seized.
The losses incurred to Czech citizens have been estimated at around 1.6 million hryvnias. In addition, over 140,000 US dollars were transferred to the suspects’ crypto wallets, the origin of which is currently being investigated by law enforcement agencies.
Charges and penalties
Investigators have notified two participants in the scheme of the charges against them. The organiser is charged with aiding and abetting fraud on an especially large scale and the laundering of criminally obtained assets. His accomplice is charged with the laundering of assets.
The organiser has been remanded in custody, whilst the other suspect has been released on bail.
The suspects face up to 12 years’ imprisonment.
