The criminals kidnapped successful entrepreneurs and then demanded money from them.
The Security Service, together with the National Police, neutralized .
This was reported by the SBU press center.
As a result of the operation, four repeat offenders were detained, previously serving sentences for various crimes, including robbery, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. The gang leader is a Russian citizen who has already served a prison term in a Ukrainian prison, according to the SBU. In 2017, the court sentenced him to 5 years in prison for participating in the terrorist group “Vostok”, which fought against the ATO forces.
After their release, the criminals united into a criminal group and continued their criminal activities.
According to the investigation, the gang members tracked successful entrepreneurs and freelancers, and then demanded money from them under false pretexts. In the event of non-payment of the “tribute”, the racketeers kidnapped the victims and brutally tortured them.
“It has been documented how the suspects kidnapped a Turkish IT specialist, who had a residence permit in Ukraine, in the middle of the street. The perpetrators took him to a garage, where they had previously set up a dungeon. There, the racketeers demanded 100 thousand US dollars from the foreigner. Their cryptogamer to the e-mail account of the gang leader,” the SBU recalled.
Four perpetrators were detained “red-handed.” Firearms, explosives, and mobile phones were seized from them at the scene of the crime. They were charged with three articles of the Criminal Code: Part 4 of Article 189 (extortion committed by an organized group under martial law); Part 2 of Article 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping of a person); Part 2 of Article 127 (torture).
The actions of the gang leader and another member have been additionally qualified as robbery committed by an organized group under martial law.
The perpetrators are in custody without the right to post bail. They face 12 to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Earlier, the SBU neutralized a criminal group that terrorized residents of the frontline Donbass.