The National Police of Ukraine reported that law enforcement officers liquidated an organized criminal group of fraudsters who failed to deliver more than a hundred drones worth almost 11 million hryvnias to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was reported by the press service of the National Public Administration.
According to the case materials, the defendants registered a sole proprietorship under a false name and offered to supply cheap drones. They sent trial batches of 3-5 UAVs, and when they received the next order for a large batch, they took the full prepayment and disappeared.
The money received was transferred to "cold" crypto wallets or bank accounts of fictitious companies. During the searches, law enforcement officers seized 53 Mavic drones, 152 silver bars, and various currencies totaling almost $740 000.
Law enforcement officers established that the suspects defrauded not only potential buyers, but also actual sellers of drones: they bought small batches with deferred payment and paid later, and then ordered large batches and did not get in touch.
Police and cyber experts from Kyiv have exposed three members of a fraudulent group. They lived in Kyiv and Ternopil. The group was led by a 31-year-old man. The criminals looked for victims, created crypto wallets and fictitious accounts from which they withdrew money or transferred it to their cards. Law enforcement officers documented all operations.
Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, all three, along with the organizer, were charged with fraud on a particularly large scale committed by an organized group during martial law. For this, they face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Nine victims are currently known, but there may be more. Police are also looking for possible accomplices of the scammers.
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