For $7,000, two accomplices promised to take a man abroad

Two men aged 30 and 36 promised to personally drive a person liable for military service to the border and help him illegally leave Ukraine for $7,000. Both were detained and notified of suspicion, and the court ordered their pretrial detention with the option of bail. The case was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Police.

According to the investigation, the accomplices knew that due to a change in his family circumstances, the man had lost his legal grounds for deferment from military service and his ability to travel freely. They offered him paid assistance to leave the country.

The man was told how to proceed, the payment terms, and how to prepare the necessary documents. He was also assured that they could pass through checkpoints without being searched. To begin arranging his departure, the accomplices designated a place where he was to leave part of the money.

As part of an operation to control the commission of the crime, the man placed $900 of the agreed amount in the hiding place they had specified.

During authorized searches at the suspects’ residences, police seized:

• nearly UAH 140,000 and $250;
• mobile phones and other material evidence;
• from the 30-year-old man, a carbine, a magazine for it, and more than a hundred rounds of ammunition.

All seized items and funds were submitted for the relevant examinations.

Investigators formally detained both men. Under the procedural supervision of the prosecutor’s office, they were notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The charge concerns the illegal transfer of persons across the state border and assistance in doing so through advice and instructions, committed by a group of persons acting in prior collusion for financial gain.

The suspects face up to 9 years in prison, with disqualification from holding certain positions or engaging in certain activities for up to 3 years, and confiscation of property.

Investigators opened a separate criminal proceeding over the 30-year-old suspect’s illegal possession of weapons and ammunition under Part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. A further procedural decision in this proceeding will be made after the examination results are received.

The court ordered both suspects to be held in pretrial detention. Each has the option of posting bail in the amount of UAH 998,000.

The following took part in exposing the group and investigating the case:

• investigators from Police Station No. 4 of the Mykolaiv District Police Department — exposed and stopped the group’s activities;
• officers of the Regional Security Service of Ukraine Directorate — provided operational support;
• officers of the Strategic Investigations Department of the National Police of Ukraine — provided operational support;
• officers of the 79th State Border Guard Service Detachment — provided operational support;
• the Mykolaiv District Prosecutor’s Office — provided procedural supervision.

The pretrial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying everyone involved in the crime.

We reported earlier:

• Anti-drone cloaks and police protection: escape to Slovakia was being sold for €11,000
• A hiding place in a car for €10,000: a cross-border smuggling scheme uncovered in Mykolaiv
• In Odesa region, a fixer led conscripts through fields to Moldova for $6,000
• Across the border under a “prosecutor’s” cover: a new scheme to help people liable for military service flee uncovered
• Through the “gray zone” to Europe: the SBU disrupts another channel for draft evaders to flee via Transnistria