Three businessmen will stand trial in the Kharkiv region for counterfeiting more than 5.8 million excise stamps
In the village of Korotych in the Kharkiv District, three people set up an underground operation to produce counterfeit excise tax stamps. A local resident and two brothers—Turkish citizens—are involved in the scheme.
To produce the counterfeits, they set up a printing facility on the premises of two private homes. There, they installed professional printing equipment, paper-cutting machines, a printing press, and equipment for applying holograms.
The accomplices established a full production cycle—from preparing printing plates and applying security features to sorting and packaging the finished stamps. The finished products were transported by car and sold directly to customers.
During searches in July 2025, law enforcement officers seized more than 5.8 million counterfeit excise stamps, dozens of rolls of holograms, and industrial printing equipment.
According to investigators’ estimates, the state budget suffered losses of over 1.8 million hryvnias.
Currently, an indictment against the three suspects has been filed with the court. They are charged with the manufacture, storage, transportation for the purpose of sale, and sale of counterfeit excise stamps on an especially large scale, committed by a group of individuals acting in concert.
The suspects face criminal liability under Part 3 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General.
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