Prosecutors say bogus taxman charged over $100K fraud attempt

Law enforcers charge a taxman impersonator with an attempt to illegally gain $100,000 from an entrepreneur.

The Prosecutor General's Office reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform saw.

Charges were pressed against a Ukrainian national for a completed attempt to take possession of property by deception, on a particularly large scale, committed in conspiracy.

According to the investigation, in July 2020, posing as an influential SFS officer, the culprit and his co-conspirators attempted to seize the entrepreneur's funds in the amount of $100,000.

The perpetrator claimed he would ensure that the batch of tobacco products earlier seized by law enforcers would be returned if the entrepreneur hands over the money to “SFS operatives”.

The press release never mentioned the name of the suspect but the public broadcaster’s sources claim the person in question is ex-intelligence operative Roman Chervinskyi, who is already being held in custody in another criminal case into his alleged role in Russia’s deadly strike targeting a military airfield in Kirovihrad region, which law enforcers allege could be a result of a botched attempt to lure a Russian pilot into Ukraine along with his warplane.

Chervinskyi is set to remain in custody until February 10, 2024, without the right to bail.

As Ukrinform reported, two residents of Dnipropetrovsk region are being suspected of defrauding the Ukrainian military through hoax car sale schemes.