In the Lviv region, law enforcement officers have exposed a 30-year-old Lviv resident suspected of organising the illegal transfer of men of conscription age across the state border to Romania for a monetary reward. This was reported under the procedural guidance of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the investigation, at the end of April this year the Lviv resident learned of a man of mobilisation age intending to leave Ukraine in defiance of the restrictions of martial law and decided to profit from this. To implement the scheme, he involved other, as yet unidentified individuals who were to ensure the illegal crossing of the border outside official checkpoints into Romania.
Investigators documented several stages of negotiations conducted by the organiser through the client’s trusted intermediary. He priced his “services” at 8,000 US dollars, assuring that he personally guaranteed successful transfer. According to him, departure was to take place after receipt of the money, and the actual border crossing into Romania was to take about 40 minutes.
In addition to the transfer itself, the man offered a so-called “VIP service”. For an extra 300 euros, he and his accomplices promised to legalise entry into Europe and guaranteed that the client would not be deported back to Ukraine.
On 16 June, on the premises of one of Lviv’s car markets, the Lviv resident received the agreed sum of money, after which he was detained by law enforcement officers under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. The detainee has been notified of suspicion of organising and facilitating the illegal transfer of a person across the state border of Ukraine, committed for mercenary motives by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy (Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Investigative actions are ongoing, with other individuals involved in the unlawful activity being identified. The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the investigative division for the investigation of general criminal offences of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Lviv region, with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine Office in Lviv region.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt has been proven in the manner prescribed by law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.