Lviv regional police have completed a pre-trial investigation into a 22-year-old criminal who used malware to steal 127 million hryvnias from the accounts of Ukrainian companies. The suspect infected the digital ecosystems of companies that regularly donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and transferred the funds through a network of over 100 proxies.
To launder the stolen funds, the young man invested them in cryptocurrency and luxury cars. Law enforcement officers detained the suspect, and an indictment under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine has already been sent to court. The suspect currently faces up to 15 years in prison with full confiscation of property.
The coordinated efforts of cyber police and investigators made it possible to quickly uncover the scheme and minimize losses to the business. While Russia continues to wage external aggression, domestic security agencies are focusing on protecting the economic sector from cyber threats. The return of 60 million hryvnias was achieved through the effective blocking of banking transactions in the proxies' accounts. The fate of the remaining stolen funds is being determined through legal proceedings. Transparency and security of digital systems remain a priority for Ukrainian law enforcement. The Ternopil Oblast Cyber Police, together with investigators from the Chortkiv District Police Department, have completed an investigation into a high-profile case of large-scale fraud. A fraudster posing as a banker defrauded a pensioner of 64,000 hryvnias.
