The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime (Uskok) has launched an investigation against three Ukrainians for organized international fraud by which they obtained over 800.000 euros, and with their arrest in Dubrovnik, damage of at least 1.3 million euros was prevented.
Three Ukrainians were arrested in Dubrovnik on August 8th when they tried to take 1.3 million euros in cash from the victim, and Uskok suspects that they were part of a wider criminal association which, in addition to Croatia, operated in Spain, Poland, and the United Kingdom (UK).
Their targets were investors who lost large sums on one internet platform in trading shares, cryptocurrencies, gold, and oil, and the fraudsters presented themselves as people who could help them get their lost money back.
In messages and calls, they presented themselves to victims as employees of financial institutions, a bank from Brussels, and the Dutch agency for combating money laundering, all with the aim of convincing them that they would return the money if they covered certain costs.
Among the victims was an investor who, after investing a significant sum, earned 530.000 euros, which he then lost. The fraudsters told him that his money had been “found” in a digital wallet and that he could recover it if he opened a crypto account on another internet platform and deposited 30 percent as a deposit for taxes, conversion fees from cryptocurrency to euros, and legal expenses.
When the victim deposited the money, they convinced him that he was also entitled to an additional 2.1 million euros, promising him a total return of 4.07 million, if he deposited another 1.22 million euros to the bank in Brussels.
After the injured party told them that he could not directly deposit that much money into the requested account, they asked him to prepare 1.3 million euros in cash in the name of payment of the alleged deposit, increased by the costs of their commission, and to hand it over in accordance with their instructions at a certain location in Dubrovnik by August 8th of this year.
However, after the persons who contacted the injured party ordered the Ukrainian citizens to take over the money, the Ukrainians were arrested by the police before the agreed handover, Uskok reported.
