SBU CI identified and blocked a channel for legalization of foreigners from Asia and Middle East countries, and their further illegal movement to EU countries.

Allegedly, members of the interregional criminal group - residents of Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Kharkiv and Uzhhorod cities, set up a large-scale scheme of issuing packages of high-quality forged documents needed by foreigners to regularize their stay in Ukraine and travel to EU countries. The cost of each "package" amounted to EUR 2,000. The SBU operatives established that the criminals produced a long list of documents and certificates of the state standard.

As a result of the special operation conducted by the SBU CI in Kyiv, the organizers of the criminal scheme were detained while handing over forged documents to another customer. During the simultaneous searches of the suspects’ residences and offices in Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Zakarpattia regions, the law enforcement seized a large amount of evidence of illegal activity: forged EU passports, diplomas of Ukrainian educational institutions, driver's licenses of Ukraine and the EU, tools for the production of forged documents, including stamps and seals of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Migration Service, Pension Fund, health care institutions, consulates , date stamps of the State Border Guard Service, etc. and computer equipment used for illegal purposes. 

The investigation is ongoing upon the fact of illegal movement of persons across the state border of Ukraine (Part 3 of Art. 332) and forgery of documents, stamps, seals or letterheads, and sale or use of forged documents (Part 3 of Art. 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The issue of serving the detainees notices of suspicion is being settled.

Measures to expose criminal activity were carried out jointly with the Main Office of the National Police in Sumy region under the supervision of Sumy Local Prosecutor's Office.