13 vehicles under the guise of humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces of Ukraine: ESBU in Volyn notifies organized crime group of suspicion

 An organized crime group has been exposed in Volyn for illegally importing vehicles into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and subsequently selling them. Detectives of the Territorial Office of the ESBU in the Volyn region have notified three group members and two of their accomplices of suspicion.

According to the investigation, a resident of Kovel organized and led the group. He involved two acquaintances in the illegal activity.

The group members had clearly assigned roles. The organizer coordinated the purchase of vehicles abroad, their importation into Ukraine, and their subsequent sale. Other members received the cars in Ukraine, arranged their repair, searched for buyers, and sold the vehicles.

Additionally, two other men were involved in the illicit scheme to handle the processing and submission of declarations listing goods recognized as humanitarian aid. False information regarding the purpose of the vehicle imports was entered into these documents.

In total, 13 vehicles with a total value of over UAH 2.9 million were illegally moved across the customs border of Ukraine.

During authorized searches at the suspects' residences, detectives seized charitable organizations' documents, humanitarian aid declarations, registration slips, vehicle acceptance and transfer acts, state license plates, and vehicles imported into Ukraine as charitable aid.

Three members of the organized group were notified of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 201-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (movement of excise goods across the customs border of Ukraine by concealing them from customs control, committed by an organized group). The other two suspects are charged with aiding and abetting the smuggling of excise goods committed by a prior conspiracy of a group of persons under Part 2 of Article 201-4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pretrial investigation is ongoing.

Operational support is provided by officers of the Strategic Investigations Department in Volyn Oblast of the National Police's Strategic Investigations Division, jointly with the 6th Border Guard Detachment of the State Border Guard Service. Procedural guidance is carried out by prosecutors of the Volyn Regional Prosecutor's Office.

Please note that in accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict of guilty.