Three police officers charged with $68,000 robbery in Dnipropetrovsk region

Law enforcement officers suspected of organised attack

Investigators have notified three police officers of suspicion of committing a robbery in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Among the defendants are the deputy head of one of the police departments, the deputy head of the drug crime control department of the National Police headquarters in the region, and an operational officer of the same department.

According to the investigation, the suspects learned that a resident of Nikopol possessed a significant amount of cryptocurrency. This information became the motive for planning to seize the funds.

Course of events on 18 June

The attack took place on 18 June. Two of the suspects attacked the victim in the middle of the street, while the third coordinated their actions. The criminals knocked the man to the ground, used tear gas, fired several shots from a less-lethal weapon, handcuffed him and beat him.

Under the threat of a pistol, the attackers forced the victim to transfer cryptocurrency totalling $51,000 to a pre-prepared wallet. After this, the criminals demanded that the man call his mother and force her to hand over all the family savings. Fearing for her son's life, the woman handed over more than $17,000.

Threats and classification of the crime

After receiving the funds, the suspects threatened to kill the victim if he contacted law enforcement agencies or a medical facility. According to the investigation materials, the stolen money was divided among the criminals.

The actions of the police officers have been classified under Part 4 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This is robbery committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy under martial law conditions.

Court decisions

On 14 October, the court chose preventive measures for all three suspects. They were taken into custody with the right to post bail in the amount of 3 million hryvnia each.