Odesa draft office staff arrested in $30,000 abduction-extortion scheme
Ukraine’s Security Service and the National Police detained an organized criminal group in Odesa that included employees of the local Territorial Recruitment Center. The group abducted a man and demanded $30,000, the SBU and the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
Investigators said that on April 21 a group that included TRC officers forced a man onto a bus and drove him around the city. While holding him, they beat him, applied psychological pressure, threatened violence and demanded $30,000.
If he refused, the assailants threatened to send victims “as assault troops to the front line” on an expedited basis.
During a special operation, SBU officers detained five people as they demanded money from one of the men. They included four employees of the Odesa district military recruitment center.
“During the arrest, the suspects physically resisted law enforcement. SBU special forces used weapons, shooting the tires of the car the group tried to flee in. No one suffered gunshot wounds,” the SBU said.
According to authorities, the group operated on “tips” from a TRC employee who identified potential victims, researched their finances and tracked their routes. For “raids,” the suspects used two service vehicles — one to hold victims, and a second to monitor the surroundings.
All detainees are being charged under Part 4 of Article 189 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. They face up to 12 years in prison.
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