In Kyiv, scammers posing as SBU agents defrauded a former high-ranking official out of 7 million hryvnias
In the capital, law enforcement officers exposed and detained two participants in a brazen fraud scheme who had swindled a large sum of money from a 79-year-old pensioner.
This was reported by the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.
The perpetrators identified themselves as employees of the Security Service of Ukraine and the police and forced the man to hand over all his savings in various currencies.
Currently, both suspects have been officially notified of the charges against them, and the court has ordered them to be held in custody as a preventive measure.
The scammers devised a cynical plan, targeting an elderly Kyiv resident who had previously held a high-ranking government position.
The criminals, posing as an SBU employee and a police investigator, sent the 79-year-old pensioner forged summonses and informed him that criminal proceedings had been opened against him for purchasing “suicide bombers” for the aggressor’s army.
Such a serious accusation shocked the elderly man and forced him to act under the fraudsters’ direction.
To further confuse the victim and uncover the hiding places of his valuables, the suspects took more aggressive steps. Under pressure, the man agreed to a “video search” and showed them his savings.
After confirming the presence of a large sum of cash, the organizers of the crime ordered him to immediately hand over the money for a fictitious examination. Following their instructions, he placed all the money in a bag and handed it over to the scammers near his home “for inspection.”
The criminals took possession of the victim’s substantial financial resources, which he had accumulated over a long period of time. Specifically, he handed over $110,710 and €10,200, as well as savings in Israeli shekels, British pounds, and Czech korunas.
The total equivalent of the stolen funds, based on the exchange rate of the National Bank of Ukraine, amounted to nearly 7 million hryvnias.
After receiving the package with the cash, the perpetrators attempted to launder the funds as quickly as possible and transfer them to their leader.
The suspects transferred the savings in euros and U.S. dollars to the scheme organizer’s crypto account, but the currency exchange refused to accept the other currencies.
It was precisely these specific foreign banknotes that prevented the criminals from fully carrying out their initial money laundering plan.
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