The Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with the Khadzhibeyiv District Prosecutor's Office of Odesa, has sent an indictment to trial against the organizer and three members of the organized criminal group, who created a fictitious internet platform and, under the guise of an investment holding, implemented a financial pyramid known as "VinEco" and "Vinex Trade".

To make everything seem real, the organizer registered an LLC with 92 types of economic activity. The criminal group rented an office in a shopping center in Odesa and conducted an active advertising campaign on various social networks. The accused lured gullible depositors with the "hook" of stability by initially paying small amounts. Subsequently, the payments ceased. The funds obtained were converted into cryptocurrency. This scheme operated for over 3 years.

Among the 94 identified victims are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The total amount of damages is UAH 25.7 million. According to preliminary estimates, the number of victims may reach 20,000 people. Victims continue to file complaints with law enforcement agencies.

It has been established that the organizer managed to illegally launder over UAH 61 million. In particular, he purchased 25 cars, 5 plots of land, and also built a self-service car wash, which he presented as an "investment project" of the company.

The accused are charged with fraud in particularly large amounts and legalization of proceeds obtained through crime (parts 4, 5 of Article 190, part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). At the request of the Prosecutor's Office, they are in custody, and the property discovered during the searches has been seized.

The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings was conducted by officers of Police Department No. 3 of Odesa Regional Police Department No. 1 of the Main Department of the National Police in the Odesa region, with the operational support of officers from the Department of Combating Cybercrimes in the Odesa region of the Cyberpolice Department of the National Police of Ukraine.

Note: under Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.

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People were defrauded of almost UAH 26 million – in Odesa, the organizers of the financial pyramid will be tried