Law enforcement officers claim to have uncovered a scheme of fictitious employment of conscripts at a critical infrastructure enterprise with subsequent booking and unhindered travel abroad outside checkpoints. Four suspects have been informed of suspicions. A native of Luhansk Oblast, the head of the regional boxing federation, is suspected of organizing the scheme.
This was announced on Tuesday, April 7, by the Prosecutor General's Office.
According to the investigation, the alleged organizer, known in criminal circles, involved three fellow countrymen in illegal activities. The scheme operated in Kyiv, Odessa, Mykolaiv, and Ternopil, where the suspects lived.
“For money, the group members fictitiously employed conscripts at a controlled enterprise in Kyiv, which had reservation quotas as a critical infrastructure enterprise. It works in the construction sector and has the ability to issue business trips for employees. Thus, clients received a deferment from mobilization and unhindered travel abroad,” the report says.
The cost of fictitious employment with a reservation was up to $8,000, employment with a business trip — $10,000. To go abroad without employment – illegally outside the checkpoint with Moldova, you had to pay $15,000, law enforcement officials said.
In addition, “booked” clients were charged 10,000 hryvnias per month to pay tax for fictitious employment.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, at least 40 conscripts used the “services” of this scheme.
The National Police reported that law enforcement officers conducted more than 50 searches. They seized more than $96,000, €12,000, 250,000 hryvnias, documentation, company seals, photocopies of personal documents of “clients”, mobile phones, bank cards, vehicles, including Lexus, Porsche Macan, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz, and draft records confirming illegal activities.
The four suspects, depending on their role and involvement in the illegal activity, were reported as suspected of:
- Part 3 of Article 332, Part 3 of Article 15, Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal smuggling of persons across the state border;
- Part 2 of Article 28 Part 1 of Article 114-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – obstruction of the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The court remanded two suspects in custody with bail set at UAH 2.6 million. Two others are being held without bail. The maximum penalty under the charges is up to nine years in prison.
“The suspects' accomplices at the enterprise where conscripts were fictitiously employed are also being identified,” the UCP added.