President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that on the morning of September 2 he would submit to the Verkhovna Rada draft laws providing for tougher criminal liability for organizers of fraudulent call centers. The Head of State has not yet disclosed details of the forthcoming changes, reports UNN.
Details
Zelenskyy announced preparations for the legislative initiatives in his evening address on September 1.
Tomorrow morning, I will submit to the Verkhovna Rada draft laws on strengthening criminal liability for those who organize fraudulent call centers. This issue must be resolved. Law enforcement agencies are taking the appropriate steps. Legislative steps are needed. All organizers of call centers must be held accountable
It should be noted that as of the evening of September 1, the new presidential draft laws were still absent from the Verkhovna Rada's database. Therefore, it is currently unknown which specific articles of the Criminal Code the Ukrainian leader proposes to amend, to what extent the sanctions are to be strengthened, and whether separate liability will be provided for creating and managing fraudulent call centers.
At the same time, current legislation already provides for severe punishment for fraud committed by an organized group. Under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code, such actions may be punishable by imprisonment for a term of five to twelve years, with confiscation of property.
Thus, the strengthening of liability announced by Zelenskyy may concern not only increasing prison terms, but also introducing a separate criminal offense for persons who create, finance, or manage fraudulent infrastructure. This will become clear after the texts of the presidential draft laws are published.
How lawmakers have already proposed combating call centers
A draft law No. 10190 on establishing liability for electronic communications fraud, registered back in October 2023, has already been registered in parliament.
In May 2024, the Verkhovna Rada adopted it in the first reading; however, as of September 2026, the document is still being prepared for the second reading.
The draft law, in particular, proposes supplementing the Criminal Code with separate articles concerning electronic communications fraud, the creation and management of an electronic communications fraud organization, as well as the involvement of people in its activities.
For creating or managing such an organization, as well as participating in it, imprisonment for seven to twelve years with confiscation of property was proposed.
At the same time, there is currently no official confirmation that the new presidential draft laws will be directly related to document No. 10190 or repeat its provisions.
Scale of the problem
Zelenskyy's announcement came amid large-scale law enforcement operations against fraudulent call centers.
In August, the National Police reported that, together with the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office, it had conducted more than 400 searches and shut down the operations of 94 fraudulent call centers. Nearly 1,800 equipped workstations were identified, and 26 suspects were notified of suspicion. Law enforcement officers seized more than 3,300 pieces of computer equipment, over 1,300 phones, thousands of SIM cards, bank cards, access credentials to crypto wallets, cars, and significant amounts of cash.
The fraudsters posed as employees of banks, brokerage companies, or law enforcement agencies; created fictitious investment and cryptocurrency platforms; used remote-access programs; and obtained victims' banking details.
In addition, on September 1, law enforcement officers reported that they had shut down the operations of new fraudulent call centers in Dnipro and Kharkiv, as well as exposed a network of fictitious investment platforms through which citizens of more than 20 countries were defrauded.