Under the procedural supervision of the Dnipro Region Prosecutor’s Office, 10 members of a criminal organization were detained and served a notice of suspicion of large-scale fraud (Part 1, 2 Art. 255, Part 4 Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the investigation, the criminal organization operated in Dnipropetrovs’k region during 2022-2023. Three organizers, including a trustee of the “thief in law” nicknamed “Lasha Swan”, developed a joint plan to seize funds from citizens of the European Union.
To implement the scheme, the members of the organization created so-called “call centers” that were equipped with computer hardware with appropriate software and a client base of banking institutions.
The “employees” of the centers, posing as law enforcement officers and foreign banking institutions, misled the victims and learned confidential bank account information.
The fraudsters then withdrew the victims’ money to accounts under their control. Most of the victims are Latvian citizens.
According to preliminary data, the monthly turnover of the transaction amounted to UAH 5 million.
During 30 authorized searches at the suspects’ residences and call centers, the SBU seized computer equipment, cash in the amount of UAH 200 thousand, mobile phones, draft records, weapons and cars. The total amount of the seized goods is UAH 12 million.
Currently, all participants are detained in accordance with Art. 208 of the CPC of Ukraine. The prosecutor has filed a motion to the court to choose custody as a measure of restraint.
Investigative actions are ongoing, the involvement of police officers who “covered” the activities of these “call centers” is being established. Information about the victims, citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania and Slovakia, is being checked.
The operation was conducted by the prosecutors jointly with the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Latvia, the Department for Combating Cybercrime of the Central Criminal Police Department of the State Police with the support of Europol and Eurojust, investigators of the Investigation Department of the Main National Police in Dnipro region with operational support from the SBU Department of Strategic Investigations.
