The SSU exposed a large-scale fraud scheme disguised as a pseudo-investment project ‘Life is good’.

The organizers of the scheme offered their clients to become investors and transfer money to the account of a company that supposedly ‘multiplies’ investments.

According to the investigation, the criminals obtained almost USD 40 million, having defrauded over 1,000 people.

To offer the ‘services’, they developed their own web resource with accounts of potential ‘investors’.

The swindlers promised stable profits - ‘dividends’ from investing in shares of promising world-class companies. ‘Bonuses’ were ‘guaranteed’ in case clients attract new participants to the project.

The fraudsters accumulated the money received from victims in their crypto wallets and on bank accounts.

The investigation identified that over 10 people were involved in organizing the scheme, most of whom are russian citizens.

Initially, the ‘project’ was operating only in russia, but after 2017 the group began to launch it in Ukraine through a massive online advertising campaign and opening of an office in Kyiv.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, the organizers wanted to conceal their involvement in the scam.

To do this, they set up a mechanism for attracting virtual assets through a network of cryptocurrency exchange offices throughout Ukraine.

During the searches in their Kyiv office and at the suspects’ homes, the SSU found:

• computers, mobile phones, accounting records and draft records with evidence of the crime;
• souvenirs and promotional products used to attract ‘investors’.

One of the top managers of the ‘investment project’ has been served a notice of suspicion under Article 190.3 of the CCU (fraud).

The investigation is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of the offence and bring the involved to justice.

The SSU carried out the operation jointly with the Investigation Department of the Main Office of the National Police in Kyiv under the procedural supervision of Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.

The SSU requests citizens who have become victims in this Ponzi scheme to report it by calling the number: (095) 899 21 16.