Ukraine and Czech Republic expose international scheme of fraudsters who defrauded EU citizens of UAH 56 million

As part of the special operation, law enforcement officers of Ukraine and the Czech Republic, with the support of Eurojust, stopped the activities of an international criminal organization that defrauded more than 100 EU citizens of almost UAH 56 million.

Writes UNN with a reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General. 

As part of a special operation conducted by law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and the Czech Republic with the support of Eurojust, an international criminal organization engaged in fraudulent misappropriation of EU citizens' funds was shut down. In the course of international cooperation, a joint investigation team was set up to expose and document the criminal activity. According to the investigation, the organizer of the fraudulent scheme in 2023 was a citizen of Ukraine. He involved residents of different regions of Ukraine and foreigners who spoke Czech and other European languages to communicate with victims.

The criminals, posing as bank employees, called the victims and informed them that their bank accounts had been hacked. They offered to temporarily transfer money to “safe accounts” or to buy cryptocurrency at a good price. During the calls, they used spoofing technology to make it appear as if the calls were coming from the bank's customer service.

The Joint Investigation Team documented fraud against more than 100 Czech citizens in the amount of more than CZK 30 million, which is equivalent to approximately UAH 56 million. As a result of the investigation, law enforcement officers detained three foreign nationals, members of the criminal group, who were wanted by the Czech law enforcement agencies through Interpol.

During the searches in Kirovohrad, Dnipro and Kyiv regions, the law enforcement seized mobile phones, computers, electronic media, bank cards and other material evidence, as well as over 68 thousand US dollars, euros and hryvnias obtained through criminal activity.

Investigative actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of the criminal activity, after which a decision will be made to serve suspicion notices to all involved persons. Three detained foreigners who committed criminal offenses on the territory of Ukraine have already been handed over to the Czech Republic for extradition.

The operation was conducted by prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office together with investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine and officers of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine.

Recall

  In Khmelnytsky region, a fraudsterwas arrested with, who obliged victims to take out microloans, transfer money to him, and then blocked all communication with them.