In Kyiv, a criminal group of racketeers who kidnapped and tortured entrepreneurs, extorting money from them, was neutralized. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine, UNN writes.
Details
In the capital, four repeat offenders were detained who had previously served sentences for various crimes, including robbery, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. They were led by a russian citizen who had already served a 5-year prison sentence in a Ukrainian prison for participating in the Vostok terrorist group that fought against the ATO forces. After his release, he created a criminal group and continued his criminal activities.
According to the investigation, the gang members tracked successful entrepreneurs and freelancers and then extorted money from them under false pretenses.
In the event of non-payment of the "tribute," the racketeers kidnapped the victims and brutally tortured them, using various forms of torture and death threats.
In particular, the perpetrators abducted a Turkish IT specialist who had a residence permit in Ukraine. The criminals took him to a garage, where they had previously set up a torture chamber. There, the racketeers demanded $100,000 from the foreigner. The victim had to transfer the entire amount from his cryptocurrency wallet to the gang leader's email account.
SBU officers detained four criminals red-handed. SBU officers seized firearms, explosives and mobile phones with evidence of criminal actions.
The defendants have been notified of suspicion under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: extortion, illegal imprisonment or abduction of a person, and torture.
The actions of the gang leader and another member were additionally qualified as robbery committed by an organized group under martial law.
The offenders are in custody without the right to be released on bail. They face 12 to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Recall
Earlier in Dnipro , an organized criminal group that terrorized residents was neutralized. And in Zaporizhzhia , the Security Service of Ukraine detained racketeers who tried to "extort" $10,000 of a non-existent debt from the wife of one of the fallen defenders and threatened to kill her and her child.