Investigators of the Metropolitan Police have completed a pre-trial investigation into an organized criminal group of fraudsters
The attackers, using the name of an official institution, issued to citizens fake certificates for customs clearance of vehicles that were imported into Ukraine from abroad. During the pre-trial investigation, 22 episodes of illegal activity were identified.
During the implementation of operational information, the employees of the Podolsk Police Department, with the prompt support of internal security officers, the procedural leadership of the Kyiv Local Prosecutor's Office №7, documented the illegal activities of a group of persons who organized an illegal business of issuing fake certificates on cars of foreign registration for their further legalization registration and registration in the service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Investigator of the Podolsk police department Denis Ostroverkhov noted that accomplices were looking for customers through ads on the Internet. To do this, they created a website on behalf of one of the private companies for the provision of car certification services imported to Ukraine from the EU and the USA:
“The group consisted of four people, among which the organizer is a 33-year-old Kyiv resident and three of his accomplices, residents of Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. Violators told potential customers about the possibility of certification bypassing the official procedure online on photos of vehicles and documents on them. They estimated their services at 4500 thousand hryvnias. After payment, customers received forged documents by mail.”
Authorized searches were carried out at the place of residence of the defendants and in the office premises, during which equipment was used to print fake certificates, telephones, SIM cards and working documentation were seized. During the pre-trial investigation, 22 episodes of criminal activity were identified.
“The organizer and three of his accomplices have been notified of suspicion of committing the crimes provided for in Part Four of Article 190 (Fraud), Part Three of Article 28 Parts One and Three of Article 358 (Forgery or Use of Counterfeit Documents, Seals, Stamps or Forms) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The sanction of the most serious crime provides for up to twelve years of imprisonment with confiscation of property,” the law enforcement official added.
The police emphasize that the valid procedure for certification of cars to state standards of Ukraine, which were imported from abroad, is carried out only by licensed legal entities in the conditions of direct examination of the car by a specialist.
Kyiv Police Communications Department
