Ukraine exposes an international money-laundering scheme using cryptocurrencies

Hundreds of individuals and companies in Ukraine and the EU were involved in laundering illicit proceeds

05.01.2023 - 13:30

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What’s new? The Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine (BEB) has exposed a major international money laundering scheme using digital currencies. A total of 152 million Ukrainian hryvnias (about $4 million) were seized during the search. According to law enforcers, the criminals were illegally exchanging and transferring funds between cities in Ukraine and the European Union.

Material on the BEB website

What else is known? The main activities of the group were laundering the proceeds of crime, converting funds in Ukraine and the EU, and hiding these transactions from financial regulators. The money laundering scheme was used by hundreds of individuals and large companies, the BEB noted. This is confirmed by documents and draft records, found during the searches.

Currently, there is a pre-trial investigation under Part 2 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, deliberate evasion of taxes, and fees (mandatory payments) committed by a prior conspiracy of a group of individuals if these acts have resulted in the actual large-scale non-payment of funds to the budgets or state trust funds. This violation is punishable by a fine of ten to fifteen thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years.

In July, the Kyiv police together with the Security Service of Ukraine exposed a fraudulent scheme under the guise of investing in mining farms. Four previously unprosecuted criminals persuaded the victims to invest money in a data center for mining cryptocurrencies, promising high returns and then fled with funds received.

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