"Grandmother from Bulgaria" for 11 thousand euros – a foreigner will be tried in Odesa for a scheme of illegal exit of conscripts
Law enforcement officers have completed the pre-trial investigation of a 59-year-old foreigner accused of organizing the illegal transfer of conscripts across the state border by issuing fake Bulgarian citizenship. The indictment has already been sent to court.
According to law enforcement, the 59-year-old foreigner offered a resident of Odesa to organize an unhindered exit abroad by issuing fake citizenship of the Republic of Bulgaria.
According to the accused's plan, having a foreign passport was supposed to allow the "client" to use it during border control to leave Ukraine. For this, he promised to prepare a package of forged documents allegedly confirming the man's Bulgarian origin.
The scheme was based on invented family ties. In particular, the suspect planned to issue falsified documents according to which the "grandmother" of the client would be a third-party woman who was indeed a Bulgarian citizen but had no family ties with the Odesa resident. Using her official data, the accused intended to artificially create a fake "family tree" and grounds for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship by origin.
Law enforcement documented that last year the organizer received an advance payment of 5 thousand euros from the customer. For this money, he prepared fake medical certificates about health status and a forged extract from the State Register of Civil Status Acts on a form visually similar to an official document of the Ministry of Justice.
This document stated that the client's paternal grandmother was Bulgarian by nationality, which was supposed to create grounds for obtaining citizenship.
After receiving the full package of forged documents, the Odesa resident applied to the consular office of the Republic of Bulgaria with the corresponding application. Immediately after leaving the diplomatic institution, he handed the organizer the second part of the agreed amount – 6 thousand euros.
It was during the receipt of this money that law enforcement detained the man under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
During investigative actions, police seized documentation, illegally obtained funds, the suspect's mobile phone, and car. The court imposed arrest on this property.
The court also chose a preventive measure for the detainee in the form of detention with the possibility of bail, which he used.
As senior investigator Karina Fedoryaeva reported, the pre-trial investigation is completed.
Based on the collected evidence, the foreigner was charged with:
- Part 3 of Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – organization of illegal transfer of persons across the state border of Ukraine, assistance by advice, instructions, and provision of means, committed for mercenary motives;
- Part 3 of Article 357 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal seizure of another important personal document;
- Parts 3 and 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – forgery of official documents that grant rights or exempt from duties, as well as use of such documents.
The indictment has already been sent to court.
If found guilty, the accused faces up to nine years of imprisonment with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to three years and confiscation of property.
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