A group of scammers who defrauded over a million hryvnias was exposed in Ukraine

In Ivano-Frankivsk region, law enforcement officers exposed an organized criminal group whose members sold non-existent cars through online platforms, seizing the funds of more than twenty-five citizens for a total amount of more than 1.3 million hryvnias.

The Ivano-Frankivsk regional prosecutor's office reported suspicion to three members of an organized criminal group who, for nine months, carried out large-scale fraudulent operations to fictitiously sell cars through online platforms, which led to criminal proceedings under Part 4 of Article 190 and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation department, the organizer of the criminal scheme was a 42-year-old resident of Ivano-Frankivsk region, who, together with her accomplices, developed a multi-stage fraud scheme that operated from June 2022 to March 2023, placing fictitious advertisements for the sale of vehicles at attractive prices below market prices.

The fraud mechanism worked according to a clearly defined scheme: the organizer was engaged in placing ads, her accomplice negotiated with potential buyers and convinced them to make an advance payment on bank cards issued to fake persons, while the third member of the group was responsible for withdrawing funds and transferring them to the organizer, who then carried out the legalization of the funds obtained through criminal means and their distribution among the participants.

The fraudsters convinced potential buyers that the cars were abroad, demanding an advance payment allegedly to organize delivery, customs clearance and registration of the vehicles, after which they stopped any communication with the deceived customers.

According to the results of the trial, the main defendant in the case was chosen as a preventive measure in the form of detention with the possibility of posting bail in the amount of over 242 thousand hryvnias, and at the request of the prosecutors, the suspects' property with a total value of 700 thousand hryvnias was seized.

Currently, the pre-trial investigation in the case is being conducted by investigators of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk region, who continue to collect evidence for further trial.