AJ
Three Ukrainians smuggled orphans and children deprived of parental care abroad for adoption by foreigners, arranging guardianship for front people, mostly men of draft age, reported the Press Service of the Odessa Region Police and the Odessa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the police, two Lviv women aged 39 and 47, along with a Kyiv man aged 49, (the founder of a charitable organisation who is currently living abroad), devised a scheme to circumvent the ban on international adoption during martial law, by arranging guardianship for people.
Guardians were able to travel abroad and receive a deferment from mobilisation, law enforcement noted.
In order to carry out the scheme, the suspects in the scheme forged documents, making false income certificates, as well as housing lease agreements and baptismal certificates.
Investigators found that at least 25 children were victims of the group, including 13 who were illegally smuggled abroad and handed over to foreign citizens, while 12 more were rescued by police during attempted deportations, noting that the suspects received a cash reward for each person transacted.
As such, the suspects are charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including the Trafficking of Human Beings, Illegal Crossing of the State Border and Forgery of Documents, of which the maximum penalty is up to 15 years in prison and a confiscation of property.
Preventive measures were chosen by the court for the accused in the form of detention with the right to post bail, which they took advantage of.
Additionally, the 13 people involved in the scheme who are abroad have received notices of suspicion in absentia, the police added.
