In Kryvyi Rih, a soldier was sentenced for swindling over 1 million UAH from the wife of a missing serviceman.

In Kryvyi Rih, a serviceman of the Armed Forces who defrauded the wife of a Ukrainian defender out of more than 1 million UAH has been sentenced to 6 years in prison with property confiscation. The embezzled funds were spent by the defendant on drugs and online gambling. This was reported on Saturday, February 1, by the “Judicial Reporter” referencing the verdict of the Central City District Court of Kryvyi Rih.

The court ruling states that at the beginning of August 2023, the wife of the serviceman received notification that her husband had gone missing while performing a combat mission near the village of Pryiutne in Zaporizhzhia. Starting in October 2023, the wife of the missing soldier began receiving payments equivalent to her husband's last salary.

Upon learning this, a family friend, also a military man, fabricated a story claiming that the missing husband was alive and in Russian captivity. The fraudster claimed to have a powerful acquaintance in the Security Service of Ukraine who could negotiate for the victim's husband’s release and return home.

From October 2023 to March 2024, under this pretense, the fraudster extorted 1,196,000 UAH from the soldier's wife, which he received on bank cards. Eventually, the victim suspected fraud and reported it to the Security Service of Ukraine.

In court, the defendant admitted his guilt and explained that he had started using drugs and gambling online around the beginning of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation. In February 2023, he was drafted into military service and carried out combat missions in the Luhansk region.

“Since the summer of 2023, when the defendant began to systematically gamble online and use drugs, the need for money arose. He could lose up to 200,000 UAH in a single day, with the largest winnings reaching up to 3 million UAH. However, he never converted them into cash, instead spending them on drugs and losing at online casinos,” the report states.

The fraudster indicated that he had known the victim since childhood, as she was the godmother of his daughter. He also confirmed that he invented the story about the influential SBU employee who would assist in the release of the soldier from captivity. Posing as this fictitious SBU officer, he corresponded with the wife of the missing soldier, persuading her to transfer money.

In January 2024, the fraudster suffered a herniated disc and lost the use of his leg; he received treatment but continued to use drugs and gamble. Since 2024, the defendant has been undergoing therapy at a rehabilitation center, after which he claims to have stopped using drugs and gambling.

The victim reported in court that the defendant had only reimbursed her 7,000 UAH and requested that he be given a severe punishment. In addition to the main penalty, the court ruled that the defendant must pay over 1 million UAH in damages and 100,000 UAH in moral compensation.