The SBU stopped the activities of fake brokerage firms, which appropriated investors' money under the guise of international trading operations.

The SBU officers established that three citizens from a Middle East country organized the scheme. According to their instructions, three call centers were set up in Kyiv. Claiming to represent a well-known investment company, the operators called clients and offered to invest money in shares of well-known companies on international stock exchanges.

After transferring money to the suspects through electronic payment systems, clients obtained a “personal accounts”, in which they could watch the constant “growth of shares” in price and accept offers to increase their investments. To create this web-resource, the organizers used elements of equipment for online gambling business, which is illegal in Ukraine.

The suspects also used specially developed software to simulate the broadcasting of electronic trading on international stock exchanges for the investors. In case a client decided to get the money, the dealers informed them about the company's bankruptcy.

Allegedly, the suspects had been operating for several years and managed to appropriate money of several thousand citizens. The “investment” amount ranged from USD 1,000-5,000 per client. The suspects legalized the illegal profit through anonymous crypto wallets.

During the searches of three call centers, the law enforcement officers seized computer and server equipment, documentation, and seals of enterprises that functioned without proper tax clearance to evade taxes. The SBU established that among the call-centers’ unofficially employed personnel were more than 200 students and foreigners from the Middle East and Africa, including illegal migrants.

The investigation is ongoing to establish all persons involved in the scheme and the amount of state budget losses.

Within the framework of international cooperation, the SBU informed the partner law enforcement agencies about the illegal Internet investment scheme, including the law enforcement agencies of the scheme organizers’ native country.