In Kyiv, law enforcement officers uncovered a large-scale criminal scheme for the production and sale of forged European Union documents to legalize foreigners abroad. The scheme involved, among others, call centers that sought clients and offered fake documents. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine and the Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office, according to UNN.
Details
According to the SBU, the special operation to expose the group lasted more than six months and was conducted both in Ukraine and abroad. Law enforcement officers documented the activities of the suspects, their roles in the scheme, and its operational mechanism.
The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the National Police, as a result of a multi-stage special operation, exposed and blocked a large-scale scheme for the illegal legalization of foreigners in EU countries.
According to the investigation, the perpetrators produced high-quality forged documents that allowed migrants to freely cross borders and stay in European countries. These documents included fake passports, residence permits, ID cards, driver's licenses, and insurance policies.
The group's clients were natives of Russia, the Middle East, and other countries who were already in the EU and sought to legalize their status there.
According to the investigation, since May 2025 alone, the participants in the scheme have sold forged documents worth at least 17.8 million hryvnias.
To implement the scheme, the organizers created an extensive structure that included IT specialists and analysts who sought clients through contextual and targeted advertising on the internet, a call center in Kyiv to support customers, units for manufacturing forged documents, and a logistics chain for their delivery to EU countries.
The Kyiv City Prosecutor's Office clarified that one of the key elements of the scheme was the operation of call centers that offered forged documents to clients.
Under the procedural guidance of the Podil District Prosecutor's Office of Kyiv, seven residents of Kyiv were notified of suspicion of fraud. They were involved in recruiting and training personnel for call centers that offered citizens forged EU documents.
Specifically, a Latvian driver's license was sold to clients for 1500 euros, but all documents were fakes.
Clients transferred money for such "services" to bank accounts opened in one of the European countries, as well as to cryptocurrency wallets. According to the investigation, the suspects received at least 400,000 euros through just one of these crypto wallets.
During the special operation, law enforcement officers conducted 12 simultaneous searches at the residences and workplaces of the suspects. As a result, computer and mobile equipment, draft records, SIM cards of Ukrainian and foreign operators, and cash totaling over 70,000 US dollars were seized.
Currently, seven key participants in the scheme have been detained and notified of suspicion under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - fraud committed on an especially large scale or by an organized group.
The sanction of the article provides for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
The comprehensive measures were carried out by employees of the Main Directorate of the SBU in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, together with investigators from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv, under the procedural guidance of the Podil District Prosecutor's Office of the capital.