The SSU has blocked an interregional scheme of serial production and sale of counterfeit Ukrainian documents.

As a result of a special operation in Vinnytsia, Lviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, the SSU detained the organizer and 8 of his accomplices. One of them is a former official of the disbanded militsiya [former Ukrainian police service].

The criminal group offered their ‘clients’ fake passports, permits for temporary residence in Ukraine and driving licenses.

The cost of counterfeits ranged from UAH 8,000 to 14,000 (USD 210 to 370) for a ‘document’, depending on its type and urgency of production.

Having hundreds of ‘orders’, the forgers made a monthly ‘profit’ of up to UAH 6 mln (USD 160,000).

Mainly, their ‘clients’ were foreigners who wanted to use fake documents to legalize their status in Ukraine or travel to the EU.

According to the investigation, the unlawful activity was organized by several Odesa residents. With the assistance of their accomplices, an underground workshop was set up in a rented apartment in downtown Lviv.

To find customers, the counterfeiters created an Instagram page offering their illegal ‘services’.

For example, a fake Ukrainian ID card was sold for an average of UAH 11,000 (USD 290).

The fakes were sent to members of the criminal group in various oblasts, who then redirected them to the clients’ postal addresses.

On average, a single ‘wholesale batch’ sent to one region included from 100 to 500 of fake papers.

During over 30 searches at ‘production facilities’, sites where the counterfeits were packed and stored, as well as at the suspects’ homes, the law enforcement found:

• forms for fake documents;
• equipment for applying holographic security features;
• mobile phones and computers with evidence of the crime;
• seals and stamps used for unlawful purposes;
• proceeds of crime.

Based on the collected evidence, the persons involved have been served notices of suspicion under two Articles of the CCU:

• 199.1, 199.2 (manufacturing, storage, acquisition, transportation, shipment, importation into Ukraine for use in the sale of goods, sale of counterfeit money, government securities in paper form, state lottery tickets, excise tax stamps or holographic security elements);
• 358.3 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps).

The court has chosen custody and round-the-clock house arrest as a measure of restraint for the suspects, who are facing up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. The investigation is ongoing.

The SSU Office in Vinnytsia region carried out the operation jointly with the National Police under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office.