Officers of the counterintelligence economic protection unit of the SBU Directorate in Luhansk Oblast, together with the U.S. National Central Bureau of Interpol, exposed and shut down a large-scale transnational fraud. While on Ukrainian territory, the perpetrators defrauded clients from distant foreign countries via the Internet and international bank payment systems. This was reported to "proUA" by the SBU press center.
Enterprising young men aged 23 and 28, with the assistance of employees of the Luhansk branch of one of the domestic commercial banks, opened several current accounts in U.S. dollars in Ukraine in the names of straw persons, to which foreign currency — proceeds from fraudulent schemes — was transferred over the past two years. Through the Internet auction "Ebay," the schemers offered various goods for sale. Interested clients transferred funds for their chosen purchases ostensibly to the accounts of foreign companies, but they never received the advertised goods, and their money ended up with the Luhansk perpetrators.
The "businessmen" were assisted by our former compatriots permanently residing in the United States — bank accounts abroad were opened in their names. The money of defrauded buyers was transferred via the international settlement systems S.W.I.F.T. and Western Union to accounts at the Luhansk branch of the bank. Cash was withdrawn by straw persons or by the organizers of the scam themselves using forged documents. In this way, the perpetrators received more than 150,000 U.S. dollars.
According to data obtained by the SBU Directorate, during the conduct of the fraudulent financial transactions, notifications about the need to return illegally obtained funds repeatedly arrived at the Luhansk branch of the bank from abroad. However, in collusion with the organizers of the scheme, the bank officials closed the accounts and did not return the money.
Law enforcement officers do not rule out that the number of defrauded persons amounts to several hundred. The materials collected by the SBU Directorate in Luhansk Oblast in cooperation with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury were handed over to the internal affairs bodies for the initiation of a criminal case under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud committed on an especially large scale or by an organized group of persons), which provides for punishment in the form of restriction of freedom for a term of five to twelve years with confiscation of property.