In Odesa, law enforcement officers exposed a criminal group that carried out a full cycle of illegal hookah tobacco production and laundered funds received from its sale.<\/p>\n
Detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security have completed a pre-trial investigation of a case related to the legalization of proceeds obtained by criminal means as a result of the illegal production of hookah tobacco.<\/p>\n
The investigation revealed that the participants of the scheme used specialized equipment for the production of hookah tobacco on an industrial scale. After that, the products were prepackaged and packaged without excise stamps, and were sold through shops and entertainment establishments in Odesa and the region.<\/p>\n
The delivery was organized by their own transport, disguising it as the activity of a volunteer organization. Some employees engaged in sales through social networks, which allowed to reach customers all over Ukraine. After receiving the funds, they were accumulated in bank accounts for further legalization.<\/p>\n
According to the investigation, the organizer of this business is an Odessa citizen who involved 17 other people in the activity. The enterprise functioned as a full-fledged production – from the preparation of raw materials to the packaging of finished products. In particular, the technologist-chemist developed new flavors to meet market needs.<\/p>\n
As a result of 24 searches, law enforcement officers seized about 57,000 packages of hookah tobacco, the total weight of which was 21,000 kilograms, as well as production equipment and 7 cars used for product delivery. The total value of seized property exceeded 18 million hryvnias.<\/p>\n
Part of the assets was seized to ensure compensation for the losses incurred. Five participants in the case were charged under articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine related to the organization of criminal activity, the manufacture of excise goods, and the legalization of funds. The indictment has already been sent to the court.<\/p>\n
Research and operational support was carried out by the Office of Strategic Investigations in the Odesa Region of the National Police, under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office.<\/p>\n
According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is considered innocent until proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Odesa, law enforcement officers exposed a criminal group that carried out a full cycle of illegal hookah tobacco production and laundered funds received from its sale. Detectives of the Bureau of Economic Security have completed a pre-trial investigation of a case related to the legalization of proceeds obtained by criminal means as a result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":35775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n