They made over 200 million hryvnias from fraudulent disability claims
Police have uncovered a criminal scheme involving the issuance of fraudulent disability certificates at medical facilities in Zaporizhzhia. Those implicated in the case include the head of a department at a municipal medical facility, the acting deputy medical director of an occupational health centre in the capital, a former employee of the State Labour Service, and intermediaries.
According to the investigation, the group’s members issued forged medical documents to conscripts, which served as the basis for establishing a disability category allegedly linked to their professional activities. This allowed them to obtain deferrals from mobilisation, increased pension payments and the right to travel abroad.
According to preliminary data, at least 500 people used the ‘services’ of those involved.
Operatives from the Strategic Investigations Department in the Zaporizhzhia region and police investigators established that officials from state and private medical institutions, as well as civilians, were involved in the scheme.
Those involved in the scheme sought out men liable for military service and offered to help them obtain a disability status on the grounds of allegedly harmful occupational factors. The cost of such ‘services’ was 420,000 hryvnias per person.
For this money, the suspects drew up fictitious ‘medical histories’, entered false data into medical reports, certificates and examination results with the required diagnoses, which did not correspond to the men’s actual state of health.
In addition, the scheme’s participants arranged fictitious inpatient treatment for ‘clients’ at private and public medical facilities in Zaporizhzhia.
Data on the ‘diagnosed’ condition was then entered into the electronic healthcare system. Subsequently, the men were referred to doctors under their control at specialised occupational health institutions, who established a link between the ‘condition’ and their professional activities and issued the relevant reports.
As part of the criminal proceedings, law enforcement officers documented 32 such cases. According to preliminary data, in 2025 alone, around 500 fictitious disability claims were processed through this scheme.
With the support of the KORD special forces, police carried out 45 searches in the Zaporizhzhia, Lviv and Kyiv regions. The searches took place at medical facilities, at the suspects’ homes and in their vehicles.
During the investigative operations, cash amounting to over 7.3 million hryvnias, medical seals and stamps, documentation, patient files, hard drives, computer equipment, 24 mobile phones, draft records and other material evidence were seized.
Six members of the group have been served with notices of suspicion. They are charged with abuse of influence, offering an unlawful benefit to a public official, unauthorised handling of information in electronic systems, and the legalisation of property obtained by criminal means.
Movable and immovable property belonging to the suspects, with a total value of over 20 million hryvnias, has also been seized. This includes six cars and two properties in Kyiv and the Lviv region.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying other individuals who may be involved in the scheme.
