Eight citizens of Ukraine were detained in Moldova, who since 2023 defrauded more than 40 Ukrainian military personnel, as well as their family members and volunteers for more than 46 million hryvnias.
This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine and the Moldovan publication NewsMaker.
The perpetrators, who arrived in Moldova after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine as refugees, placed advertisements on the Internet for the sale of non-existent drones and cars, in particular SUVs. They communicated with potential buyers in the messenger and agreed on a subscription for drones or driving a car from abroad.
After receiving the money, the fraudsters mocked the victims, uttered slogans in support of the Russian Federation, and then blocked customers and deleted correspondence. The victims did not receive cars, drones, or money.
As noted by the National Police, the perpetrators demanded from the victims to document their membership in the Armed Forces of Ukraine or volunteer activities.
The scheme was organized by a 34-year-old native of the Russian Federation. Moldovan law enforcement officers report that the suspects are refugees from Ukraine aged 28 to 43. There is one woman among them.
In total, more than 100 victims appear in 67 episodes of criminal activity. For the investigation, the law enforcement officers of Kyiv and Chisinau formed a joint investigative team. More than 20 searches were conducted in Chisinau and more than ten in Ukraine.
In Moldova, law enforcement officers seized various items, some of which were probably purchased with funds obtained through fraud. In particular, we are talking about 22 luxury cars registered to people belonging to socially vulnerable strata of the population. Some of the items seized during the search were smuggled, including Porsche cars, Mercedes-AMG G63 (Gelandewagen), BMW X5, X6, X7, 4.5 kilograms of jewelry, money obtained through fraud, and more than 80 bank cards from Moldova, Ukraine and Russia.
The capital court in Moldova sent the suspects under arrest for 30 days. However, the defendantsʼ lawyers are trying to appeal this decision in the Chisinau Appeals Chamber.