They sold cars brought to Ukraine as humanitarian aid for the military: law enforcement officers exposed an illegal scheme
This was announced by the Head of the National Police of Ukraine Igor Klymenko.
“Volunteering is an indispensable form of help at any time. People who honestly and selflessly support and rescue those in need deserve great respect and honor. Especially now, when the volunteer community makes a huge contribution to the Victory of Ukraine with its tireless work. But, unfortunately, the authority of volunteers is used by scammers who appropriate and sell humanitarian aid. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the police have registered 404 such cases. 79 people have already received suspicions within the framework of these criminal proceedings,” said Igor Klymenko.
According to the head of the National Police, the most common scheme used by pseudo-volunteers is precisely the sale of humanitarian aid. One of the following facts law enforcement documented recently:
“A soldier in search of a car for combat comrades came across an announcement of a charitable foundation. However, as it turned out, for cars it was necessary to pay 5.5 thousand euros for two cars. But in the act of acceptance and transfer to the military unit, it was not possible to mention the cost - to write only “gratuitous humanitarian assistance”. As the police established, such a scheme of earnings is used by two men who cover themselves with a number of charitable public organizations. Among them is the NGO “Nezalezni”, whose head is Sviatoslav Litinsky (he is a witness in this criminal proceedings)”.
In particular, one of the defendants, providing documents from the specified public organization, agreed with philanthropists to purchase cars abroad for the needs of the military. When the cars reached the border with Ukraine, pseudo-volunteers cleared them through other charitable foundations, indicating that these cars would be donated to military units of the Armed Forces.
Police officers documented these facts as part of the criminal proceedings and conducted searches in organizations, foundations and in the homes of persons mentioned by the defendants during the negotiations. Currently, the investigators have summoned two persons to serve them a notice on suspicion of illegal use for the purpose of profit of humanitarian aid.
“These people will be held criminally responsible for their crime. But the worst thing about such stories is the shadow cast by intruders on the activities of real volunteers. And our task is to expose and hold accountable anyone who seeks to use the authority of philanthropists for their own enrichment. Because volunteering is about humanity, not about earning,” Ihor Klymenko stressed.
