Found a card and spent over 18 thousand: in Mykolaiv, a mother of nine was convicted
Someone else's bank card turned into a sentence for a mother of a large family in the Mykolaiv region
Inhulskyi District Court of Mykolaiv found a woman guilty who had appropriated a found bank card and within one day spent from its owner’s account 18 358.56 hryvnias. This is stated in the court verdict of 17 August 2026.
According to the case materials, 22 May 2025 the woman found in a shop in the settlement of Voskresenske a bank card of “PrivatBank” that belonged to another person. Instead of returning the card to its owner, she decided to use it to pay for purchases.
During the day the accused made several dozen payments in shops Voskresenske, after which she went to Mykolaiv. In the city she paid with the other person’s card at the LIG gas station, where she bought fuel and other goods, and also at the Avrora multimarket. In court the woman said that, in particular, she bought chocolate and sneakers for a child. The total amount of the card owner’s losses amounted to 18 358.56 hryvnias. The woman later returned some of the goods worth approximately 5 thousand hryvnias to one of the stores.
During the trial the accused fully admitted her guilt and repented. She explained that at the time of the offense she was pregnant with her ninth child, and her family was in a difficult financial situation. The court took into account her sincere remorse, cooperation with the investigation, partial compensation of the losses, the absence of previous convictions, and the fact that the woman is raising nine minor children.
She was found guilty of appropriating an official document for mercenary motives under Part 1 of Article 357 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and also of theft committed under martial law under Part 4 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
For the first charge the court imposed on the woman one year of probationary supervision, and for the second — five years of imprisonment. The final punishment for the totality of criminal offenses was five years of imprisonment. At the same time the court released the convicted person from serving the sentence with probation, setting a probationary period of one year. During this time she must regularly report to the probation authority, notify about changes of residence or employment, and not leave Ukraine without the appropriate permission.
