An entrepreneur has been arrested in Zakarpattia on suspicion of selling cars imported for the Ukrainian Armed Forces as humanitarian aid
In the Zakarpattia region, law enforcement officers have uncovered a scheme involving the sale of vehicles imported into Ukraine under the guise of humanitarian aid for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to the investigation, an individual entrepreneur who owns a service station is involved in organising the scheme.
Operatives from the Strategic Investigations Department in the Zakarpattia region, together with investigators from Police Station No. 1 of the Khust District Police Department, established that the man had arranged the sale of foreign-registered vehicles imported as humanitarian aid for the military.
Investigators believe that the entrepreneur had agreed to sell three vehicles and had already received a deposit. Law enforcement officers detained him in accordance with due process whilst he was receiving payment for two of the vehicles.
According to the police, the suspect sold a Hyundai Santa Fe and a SsangYong for $6,000. In total, he expected to receive $10,000 from the sale of the three vehicles.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized the vehicles, which had been imported into Ukraine as humanitarian aid for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, along with technical certificates, documentation and $6,000.
All the seized vehicles were taken to a special storage facility for temporarily impounded vehicles.
On the basis of the evidence gathered, the businessman was notified of his status as a suspect under Part 3 of Article 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for the sale of humanitarian aid goods for profit, committed on a large scale and by prior conspiracy by a group of persons.
The court imposed a preventive measure on the suspect in the form of detention, with the possibility of bail set at 702,000 hryvnias.
The penalty under this article provides for imprisonment of up to seven years. The Khust District Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing the criminal proceedings.
In accordance with Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of a crime until their guilt has been proven in accordance with the law and established by a court conviction.
