The National Police has exposed members of an armed criminal organization that robbed the homes of cryptocurrency miners. It is noted that the robbers kidnapped people close to the future victims to find out the details of their everyday life and the presence of a security system in their homes. Law enforcement officers detained the criminals on January 22, but it became known only today, UNN reports.
On January 22, law enforcement officers conducted a special operation to detain members of the group. The suspects include residents of Kharkiv, Dnipro, Kyiv, Kyiv and Kirovohrad regions. The criminals kidnapped people close to the future victims to find out details of their everyday life and the presence of security systems in their homes.
Details
Law enforcement officers established that the gang leaders were two residents of the capital. They were involved in direct planning of crimes, recruiting and instructing new members, distributing roles among them and determining places to hide the tools of crime.
As a rule, the criminal organization targeted businesses whose activities were related to cryptocurrency. The perpetrators made a so-called "dossier" on all potential victims and carefully prepared for the crime.
Before carrying out the robbery, they met repeatedly to coordinate all the details and plan escape routes, reconnoitered the area, selected weapons and equipment, and even monitored the weather forecast so that in case of precipitation, no tracks would be left on the ground.
It is noted that since the members of the group were from different regions, they gathered to hold joint "meetings" at a date and place determined by the leaders.
The gang members were between 23 and 40 years old.
In one of the episodes that took place in the Kyiv region in August last year, criminals kidnapped a driver who worked for a couple whose activities were related to cryptocurrencies.
According to investigators, the robbers stopped the victim's car and pushed him into another car at gunpoint and by beating him. The robbers wanted to know the daily routine of each member of the family they planned to rob. They asked the man about the layout of the house of the family he worked for, the presence of security guards, as well as the means of entering the household and the number of staff.
Currently, all members of the gang are detained in accordance with Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Two more suspects are currently in pre-trial detention.
During the searches, law enforcement officers seized weapons and ammunition, cars, radios, signal jamming and special equipment detection equipment, dozens of different car license plates, etc.
The issue of serving the detainees and members of the criminal organization with a notice of suspicion and choosing a measure of restraint is being resolved.
The criminal proceedings under the procedural supervision of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office are being investigated under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with the qualifying feature of "committed as part of an organized group":