National police together with Czech law enforcement officers liquidated international criminal organization
The scheme was organized by two men — a Ukrainian and a citizen of the Czech Republic. They set up the work of a hall center in Dnipro, with the help of which they lured money from the citizens of the Czech Republic.
The defendants came into view of the police last summer. It was then that law enforcement officers established that a criminal organization with international connections operates on the territory of Ukraine, which “specializes” in fraud against citizens of the Czech Republic.
As the operators established, the fraud was carried out using telephone calls, using “sip-telephony” - changing numbers.
Calling customers of Czech banks, the attackers posed as employees of the security service of the banking institution and reported that their accounts had been hacked, and recommended to urgently transfer all savings to another “safe” account. In the future, the call center employee called already under the guise of a police officer and confirmed the veracity of the first call, recommending that the “bank employee” immediately fulfill the requirement.
In order to quickly suppress the illegal activities of members of the criminal group, the investigators of the General Prosecutor's Office initiated the signing of an international agreement with the law enforcement officers of the Czech Republic on the creation of a joint investigative task force.
Thus, according to the investigation, this call center was located in the city of Dnipro, and more than 20 people were involved in its work, including local residents and citizens of foreign countries. Their activities were coordinated by one of the organizers — a citizen of the Czech Republic, who arrived in Ukraine a year ago specifically for this purpose.
Having collected the necessary evidence base, law enforcement officers conducted a special operation, which simultaneously took place on the territory of both countries. As a result of the measures taken, law enforcement officers detained two organizers. Also, Ukrainian law enforcement officers detained five active members of the group, all of them citizens of foreign countries.
The issue of their extradition is currently being resolved.
All victims are citizens of the Czech Republic. Already 300 people have been identified who have been searched by intruders. According to preliminary estimates, they suffered material damage of more than CZK 65 million, which is more than UAH 108 million.
Currently, investigators of the Civil Service of the National Police are investigating criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Art. 190 (Fraud committed on a particularly large scale) and Part 1, Part 2 of Art. 255 (Creation, leadership of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Further procedural decisions regarding the remaining defendants, notification of suspicion and selection of preventive measures, will be made after the receipt of the results of expert studies.
Under Ukrainian law, defendants face up to twelve years imprisonment with confiscation of property.
National Police of Ukraine
