Court sentences organizer of illegal border crossing scheme to 4 years in prison
The Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor's Office stated this on its website, Ukrinform reports.
"A 24-year-old resident of Chernivtsi joined a scheme to profit from organizing illegal crossings of people across the state border (Part 3, Article 332 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). He was found guilty and sentenced to 4 years in prison, with a 3-year ban on activities related to providing logistics services and transporting citizens in border regions and border zones of Ukraine, and confiscation of all property, except for his residence," the prosecutor's office stated.
It was noted that in November 2024, the defendant facilitated the transport of two conscription-age men to the Ukrainian-Moldovan border. First, he picked up one man from the village of Delyatyn in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, brought him to Chernivtsi, and accommodated him in a hotel. The next day, he met the second man, a resident of Kharkiv Oblast.
The cost of this "service" was $4,000 USD and EUR 5,000. Part of the payment was received in cash by the driver, while the rest was transferred to the accounts of other organizers.
Using a Renault Kangoo, he drove both men toward the Ukrainian-Moldovan border, avoiding checkpoints and following coordinates provided by other participants in the scheme. The driver and the passengers were stopped by border guards near the village of Kobolchyn in Dnistrovskyi district.
The man fully admitted his guilt.
As Ukrinform reported, law enforcement previously detained an organizer of a similar scheme in Odesa region for helping draft-age men cross the border.
