In Odesa, a 32-year-old man posed as a successful crypto trader, creating the illusion of an investment fund to lure money from his friends. The total amount of losses exceeded UAH 42 million (over $1 million at the time of writing). A local media reported this information, referring to the Main Department of the National Police (MDNP) in the Odesa region.

The police found that the man and his accomplice convinced people to invest in his “crypto trade” by promising high profits. To create an impression of legitimacy, he rented an office in Odesa and held meetings with potential investors there.

To gain trust, the fraudster periodically returned small amounts of money in the form of “earned interest”, which created the illusion of real profits and encouraged victims to invest even more money. In fact, he did not conduct any trading on crypto exchanges — he transferred all the funds to his own accounts and crypto wallets, and then spent them on personal needs.

“The offender created the illusion of a successful business in cryptocurrency trading and convinced his friends to invest in his non-existent fund. The carefully planned scheme left people without savings,” the police said.

During the investigation, law enforcement officers seized evidence of illegal activity. The defendant was charged under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — fraud committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, on an especially large scale, repeatedly, under martial law.

The article provides for up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The pre-trial investigation has been completed, and the indictment, along with the case file, has been submitted to the court.

As a reminder, a month ago, Kyiv law enforcement officers exposed a call centre whose employees were extorting money from foreigners under the guise of investing in crypto assets.

In addition, in July, Ukraine uncovered an international crypto-fraud scheme involving citizens of the Czech Republic, Poland, and other EU countries.