Two fraudsters posing as employees of Ukraine’s Security Service allegedly stole almost 7 million hryvnias (€136,000) from former Ukrainian Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko after falsely claiming he was under investigation for helping buy Shahed drones for the Russian army.
The case was reported by the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office and Kyiv police, according to Ukrainian Pravda. A law enforcement source told the outlet that the victim was Pustovoitenko, who served as Ukraine’s prime minister from 1997 to 1999.
As reported by Focus.ua, authorities said the 79-year-old received a call from an unknown man who introduced himself as an SBU employee and accused him of financing Russia. The suspects then allegedly posed as SBU officers and police investigators, sending fake summonses and telling him criminal proceedings had been opened against him over the supposed purchase of Shahed drones.
“According to the fraudsters, it was possible to prove their innocence by ‘verifying’ and ‘declaring’ the funds in a special structure,” police said. “Under psychological pressure and threats, the man agreed to comply with the demands and, during a personal meeting, handed over cash in various currencies totaling 6.7 million hryvnias to one of the group members.”
The former politician allegedly handed over $110,710 and €10,200, as well as savings in Israeli shekels, British pounds, and Czech crowns.
Investigators say the fraudsters transferred the euros and U.S. dollars to a cryptocurrency account controlled by the organizer of the scheme.
Police later detained both suspects and said they are investigating whether they have been involved in similar scams previously. During a search of one suspect’s car, officers seized banknotes that had been kept and not handed over to his superiors.
The men have been arrested on suspicion of large-scale fraud. A court ordered both suspects to be held in custody, while setting bail at 4.9 million hryvnias (€95,000) and 3.3 million hryvnias (€64,000), respectively.
Law enforcement officers are still working to identify other people who may have been involved in the alleged scheme.
