A 57-year-old resident of the Sokal community is suspected of fraud and obtaining an unlawful benefit for promises to influence the decision of a medical commission on granting disability status. This was reported under the procedural guidance of the Sheptytskyi District Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, in February this year the man convinced a woman that he was a member of the local hospital’s EKOPFO and could “help” arrange disability status for her son. In reality, he had never worked at the medical institution and had no connection to the commission, and had simply invented the position. For such “services” the suspect received 2,600 US dollars in two payments, after which he stopped contacting the victim and spent the money on his own needs.
In March, according to the investigation, the man used a similar scheme. This time he assured another woman that he was well acquainted with members of the EKOPFO and could influence their decision on determining the disability group for her husband. The “intermediary” valued his services at 11,000 US dollars. The woman handed over the money to him in instalments, and when the amount reached 6,500 US dollars but there was still no result, she turned to law enforcement.
The investigation also established that the suspect had previously been held criminally liable for theft and fraud. In particular, in 2022 he stole and sold the work laptop of his sister, a teacher, which she had received from the educational institution. The following year, according to law enforcement officers, the man deceived two beekeepers: he promised to buy honey from them for export and pay later, but had no intention of returning the money. In this way he appropriated more than 500 kg of honey, causing losses of almost 50,000 UAH.
The man has been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 190 and Part 3 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — fraud and obtaining an unlawful benefit for himself for exerting influence on the decision-making of persons authorised to perform state functions, combined with extortion of such a benefit. At the request of the prosecution, a preventive measure in the form of detention with the right to bail was chosen for him. The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the Sheptytskyi District Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv Region.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime until their guilt is proved in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.