Ruslan Kravchenko: State Tax Service helped law enforcement officers uncover legalization scheme of income of the interregional drug cartel totaling more than 200 million UAH

Press service of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, published 05 February 2025 at 09:45 Chapter: News

With assistance of the State Tax Service of Ukraine, law enforcement officers have discovered a group that was involved in legalizing income of a drug syndicate with a monthly turnover of 18 million UAH. This was reported on the Facebook page by Head of the State Tax Service Ruslan Kravchenko.

Money laundering network involved over a thousand so-called “drops” – individuals who, for a fee, transferred access to their bank accounts for shadow transactions.

"It was established that the scheme participants created a network of fake individuals who, for a reward, provided their data to open accounts and created personal accounts in mobile applications. Accounts of these citizens received profits from illegal sale of raw materials for the amphetamine production. As a result, more than two hundred million UAH were withdrawn from their accounts in a year to two deposit crypto wallets, which were then cashed in Cyprus" – noted Ruslan Kravchenko. 

He added that based on the analysis results of the Prevention and Anti-money Laundering Department of the State Tax Service, law enforcement officers identified ways and mechanisms of legalization of funds obtained illegally, identified persons involved and their role in the scheme. 

Police officers conducted operation to liquidate criminal organization. Some of the suspects are being held accountable for legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means (Part 3 Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).