Organizer of Non-existent Car Scheme for AFU Extradited, Monthly Damages Exceed UAH 5 Million
Police extradited from Estonia the organizer of a fraudulent scheme that sold non-existent cars to the AFU, causing over UAH 5 million in monthly damages. The perpetrators posed as volunteers, including from Prytula's Foundation, took advance payments, and vanished. The court ordered the suspect's pre-trial detention.
The National Police announced the extradition from Estonia of the organizer of a large-scale fraudulent scheme involving the sale of non-existent vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The perpetrators, posing as volunteers or representatives of well-known charitable foundations, including Serhiy Prytula's Foundation, took advance payments for the purchase or delivery of vehicles and then disappeared. The monthly damages inflicted on military personnel exceeded 5 million hryvnias.
According to the police, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, members of the criminal organization actively posted online advertisements for the sale and delivery of cars from Europe at reduced prices. They operated on various platforms, using fictitious personal data and posing as customs brokers, car transporter drivers, volunteers, and employees of charitable foundations. The fraudsters took advance payments from military personnel for car delivery and asked them to immediately record a video of gratitude, allegedly «for reporting,» but never delivered the car, did not return the money, and used the videos to deceive other victims.
Investigation revealed the scheme's organizer to be a Ukrainian citizen who had previously been prosecuted abroad and notified of suspicion of fraud in Ukraine. He was apprehended in Estonia and extradited to Ukraine. The court has chosen a pre-trial detention measure for the suspect, specifically detention without the right to bail. Documentation of other members of the criminal organization currently abroad is ongoing.
The police urge anyone who has suffered from this fraudulent scheme or has information vital to the investigation to report it via the hotline: +380 95 681 17 13. Every report is important for the investigation.