In Moldova, the police detained eight citizens of Ukraine who fraudulently took possession of over 155 thousand euros received from 40 Ukrainian military.
Fraudsters who arrived in the republic as refugees posted ads on the Internet for the sale of cars, but after receiving the money disappeared.
The police found that the Ukrainian military found ads on the Internet for the sale of cars, including premium ones. They transferred the money collected for the purchase of SUVs for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The suspects withdrew the extorted funds from ATMs in the Republic of Moldova or used them directly to pay for services or personal purchases.
"They are between 28 and 43 years old. There is a woman among the suspects. All of them are members of a criminal group operating since 2022, which, after deceiving the victims and receiving money, began committing a money laundering crime," the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Moldova for combating organized crime clarified.
The law enforcement agencies of Ukraine joined the investigation. So far, about 100 victims have been involved in the case. The joint investigation Team has already conducted more than 20 searches in Chisinau and more than 10 in Ukraine.
In Moldova, the police seized various goods allegedly bought with money obtained by criminal means. We are talking about 22 luxury cars that are registered to persons belonging to socially unprotected categories. Some were smuggled in, including Porsche, Mercedes-AMG G63 (Gelandewagen), but mostly BMW X5, X6, X7. Including jewelry weighing 4.5 kg, money received as a result of fraud, as well as more than 80 bank cards from Moldova, Ukraine and Russia.
The court placed the detainees under preliminary arrest for 30 days. However, the lawyers of the accused are trying to appeal this decision to the Appeals Chamber of Chisinau.