In Kharkiv region, a group of fraudsters who appropriated almost 2 million hryvnias of savings of pensioners will be tried
The defendants, posing as employees of social services, entered the homes of the victims, fraudulently discovered the places of storage of their savings and stole money from pensioners.
Operatives of the Department of Strategic Investigations together with the investigators of the regional police established that a 23-year-old resident of the Dnipropetrovsk region organized illegal activities, involving three acquaintances. Members of the criminal group committed property crimes under the guise of providing social assistance to the elderly.
Potential victims of the criminal group were searched in different regions — on the territory of Kharkiv, Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Under the guise of social workers, they went home to pensioners, offered them food kits and money, but always clarified that they only had large bills with them, so people had to give them the rest. After identifying the place of storage of funds, distracting the attention of the victims, their savings were stolen. In case of exposure or resistance on the part of the victim, physical force was applied to the owner.
One of the members of the criminal group was at the retirement home every time to warn accomplices in case of danger.
Law enforcement officers collected evidence of the involvement of the defendants in numerous cases of theft or possession of sins totaling almost 1.8 million UAH. This became the basis for notifying them of suspicions.
Currently, the indictment against four members of the group is referred to the court with the qualification “committed as part of an organized criminal group”. Their actions are qualified according to Part 5 of Art. 185 (Theft), part 5 of Art. 186 (Robbery) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. All suspects are in custody.
The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of eight to thirteen years with confiscation of property.
Exposure and documentation activities in criminal proceedings were carried out under the procedural guidance of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
National Police of Ukraine
