Bulgaria extradited to Ukraine organiser of schemes for evaders

Bulgaria has extradited to Ukraine the organiser of a criminal organisation that smuggled men of conscription age out of Ukraine. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine on 30 April.

According to the materials of the Security Service, Bulgarian law enforcers have extradited to Ukraine the leader of a criminal organisation that smuggled draft dodgers out of Ukraine," the SBU said.

The defendant for more than two years was hiding in the territory of the European Union, he was tracked down, detained and returned to Ukraine for prosecution.

At the end of January 2023 the SBU detained seven of his accomplices. The organiser, being abroad, remotely directed their actions.

Also, the group offered "clients" to go to the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhya under the guise of visiting relatives for money.

The extradited leader of the criminal organisation was reported on suspicion under three articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• ч. 1 Art. 255 (creation, management of a criminal association or criminal organisation, as well as participation in it);
• ч. article 28, part 4, article 332, part 3 (illegal transport of persons across the State border of Ukraine);
• part 1, 4 of article 358 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and letterheads, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps).

The offender is in custody, pre-trial investigation is ongoing. He faces up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.