A Ukrainian has been arrested on suspicion of faking the sale of Starlink technology to a military volunteer, conning them out of nearly 2 million hryvnias (about $50,000).
The Cyber Police of Ukraine said on December 5th that they had taken a 35-year-old man into custody after a raid on his home in Vinnytsia, a city in the embattled country’s west-central region.
Ukrainian authorities claim the man, whom they did not name, “invented a criminal plan to fake the sale of 22 Starlink satellite systems and 50 portable charging power stations in order to get money from volunteers.”
The suspect is accused by police of meeting one victim and posing as “head of a public organization and a private entrepreneur.”
“The fraudster convinced the volunteer that he could sell him Starlink satellite systems and portable charging power stations, which the latter wanted to purchase and transfer for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” they added.
This led the victim to hand over 1.8 million hryvnias for equipment, which never materialized.
Police say a search of the suspect’s home revealed bank cards, mobile phones, documents, and other articles constituting evidence of his crimes. The items in question were seized pending the suspect’s trial.
If found guilty, he faces up to eight years in prison under Ukrainian law.
The arrest comes as Ukraine works hard to fight its poor reputation for dealing with corruption while pursuing EU membership in the face of continued Russian aggression.
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