The SSU jointly with the National Police has blocked another interregional scheme of manufacturing and selling counterfeit Ukrainian documents.

As a result of operations in Ukraine’s several regions, the organizer of the scheme and 3 of his accomplices were exposed.

The criminals offered fake passports, driver’s licenses, vehicle registration certificates and state acts on land ownership.

Among the clients were russian citizens who were trying to ‘legalize’ their status in Ukraine or travel to the EU using the counterfeits.

The cost of ‘services’ depended on complexity and urgency of ‘orders’.

For example, the dealers charged USD 1,100 for a fake ID card of a Ukrainian citizen and USD 6,000 for a fake driver’s license.

Every month, the clandestine printing house fulfilled a minimum of 100 ‘orders’.

The fraudsters also made fictitious medical conclusions on fitness for military service, charging USD 5,000 to 10,000 for them.

According to the investigation, the organizer is a Kyiv resident. He set up a printing house in a rented apartment in Rivne, where he installed equipment for printing forms and applying holographic images.

To hide their ‘tracks’, the dealers sent the finished counterfeits to their accomplice in Bucha, who then sent them to ‘customers’ through postal services.

Another participant, a Kharkiv resident, was looking for ‘clients’. There was also a private notary in the group, who took part in the transactions and issued powers of attorney ‘in absentia’.

During over 150 searches in the clandestine workshop, as well as at the suspects’ homes and offices in Kyiv, Rivne, Kharkiv, Odesa and Zakarpattia regions, the SSU found:

• forms of counterfeit documents;
• equipment for manufacturing fake IDs and applying holographic security elements on them;
• seals and stamps used for making fakes.

The organizer, his ‘courier’ from Bucha and two accomplices from Rivne and Kharkiv have been notified of suspicion under two Articles of the CCU:

• 358.3 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps);
• 199.2, 199.3 (manufacturing, storage, acquisition, transportation, shipment, importation into Ukraine for use in selling goods, sale of counterfeit money, government securities in paper form, state lottery tickets, excise tax stamps or holographic security elements).

Two of the suspects are in custody. Shortly, another participant of the scheme from Rivne and a notary from Kharkiv will also be served notices of suspicion.

The investigation is ongoing. The fraudsters are facing up to 12 years in prison.

The operation was carried out under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.