Ukraine has returned to its jurisdiction a fraudster detained abroad, who is suspected of large-scale financial fraud causing damages of nearly 4 million hryvnias
The individual is a 34-year-old citizen of Tunisia, who was extradited from Germany as part of a special operation, according to the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office. According to law enforcement officials, the detainee had been hiding from justice for over three years, being on Interpol’s international wanted list. His activities were mainly related to extensive cybercrimes that caused significant harm to private individuals, courts, and both public and private organizations. Investigators established that in 2022, the suspect worked as an administrator on a popular freelance platform. It was there that he set up a criminal scheme involving hacking into users’ electronic accounts to alter payment details. Instead of receiving legitimate payments for completed tasks, the funds were redirected to accounts belonging to his wife. As a result, millions of hryvnias intended for contractors “disappeared” through an underground scheme that involved several stages and required high technical skills. More details: the investigation revealed that the offender gained unauthorized access to other people’s electronic systems, changed banking details in user accounts, and effectively stole nearly 4 million hryvnias. After being exposed and charged in 2022, he was forced to leave the country, bypassing the Ukrainian legal space and ending up in Europe. There, he was placed on the wanted list in absentia for articles involving unauthorized access to information systems (Part 1, Article 361 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and large-scale fraud (Part 3, Article 190 of the CC of Ukraine). Thanks to prompt actions by Ukrainian law enforcement and cooperation with foreign colleagues, particularly German police, the Tunisian citizen has been detained in Germany and handed over to Ukrainian authorities. He has been brought to Ukraine, where he remains in custody around the clock. As part of the legal process, a preventive measure in the form of detention has been chosen. Meanwhile, the court is considering the possibility of setting bail, which is currently 908,000 hryvnias. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that this case is just one among many active efforts to combat cybercrime in Ukraine. For example, on May 13 of this year, security services, in cooperation with Czech law enforcement, dismantled a large-scale fraud group operating in Zakarpattia that exploited the trust of foreign citizens. They used fake investment proposals to lure citizens into financial “pyramids” and extracted their savings. These events demonstrate the increasing level of cybercrime in Ukraine and highlight the need for continuous modernization of security systems, as well as close cooperation among international agencies. Authorities emphasize that any forms of financial fraud, abuse of electronic systems, and unauthorized access to information are punishable under current legislation and will not go unpunished.