A fraudster who swindled a People's Artist out of more than 6 million hryvnias will stand trial in Kyiv

In Kyiv, law enforcement officials have completed a pretrial investigation and filed an indictment against a 36-year-old man who, posing as an SBU officer, swindled a People’s Artist of Ukraine out of more than 6 million hryvnias. 

According to the investigation, in April, the fake SBU officer called the victim, falsely accused her of treason, and sent her a forged summons to exert psychological pressure. 

Under the pretext of “verifying funds linked to an aggressor state,” the fraudster convinced the woman to hand over $128,000 in cash and transfer approximately 400,000 hryvnias to bank accounts. The perpetrator faces up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

This was reported by the Kyiv police.

Earlier reports indicated that a 71-year-old Kyiv resident received a call via a messaging app from a man who identified himself as an SBU officer. He informed her that she was suspected of treason and had to hand over all her savings for inspection. The money would be checked to determine whether it was of Russian origin. The scammers promised to return the money to the woman after it had been verified. To make their story more convincing, the scammers sent her forged summonses via the messaging app.