"Father of many children" for 120,000 hryvnias: scheme for illegal emigration exposed in Sumy region. PHOTO
In the Sumy region, police have uncovered a scheme involving the illegal smuggling of men across the state border under the guise of the ‘father of many children’ scheme.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing the National Police’s communications department.
How did the scheme work?
It is reported that a man and a woman, whose marriage was not registered, offered men liable for military service the chance to register as the fathers of their own young children. Law enforcement officers uncovered the couple’s illegal activities and notified the suspects of the charges against them.
Operatives from the Migration Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Sumy Oblast, together with investigators from the Sumy District Police Department and in cooperation with operatives from the 5th Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, under the procedural supervision of the Sumy District Prosecutor’s Office, exposed two residents of the regional capital who had organised a scheme to illegally smuggle men liable for military serviceacross Ukraine’s state border.
According to the investigation, a 29-year-old woman and her 34-year-old partner were involved in the illegal activity. They offered men liable for military service the chance, for 120,000 hryvnias, to establish fictitious paternity over three young children aged 3 years, 1 year and 4 months, which was intended to grant them the status of a father of multiple children and create grounds for leaving Ukraine.
The suspects found a potential ‘client’, but he already had a child of his own and agreed to recognise paternity of only two of the young children. The suspects then provided instructions on how to complete the necessary paperwork and arranged for the relevant changes to be made. However, they did not manage to carry out their criminal plan to the end. Law enforcement officers put a stop to their activities whilst the second instalment of the agreed sum was being handed over and the documents relating to the fictitious paternity were being drawn up.
Suspicions
Police investigators have informed both suspects that they are under suspicion under Part 3 of Article 15 and Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (completed attempt to facilitate the illegal smuggling of a person across the state border of Ukraine, committed by a group of persons acting in collusion for financial gain).
The suspects face up to nine years’ imprisonment for their actions.
