Lviv resident faces trial for swindling over UAH 2 mln from family of missing serviceman

Prosecutors of the Halych District Prosecutor’s Office of Lviv sent an indictment to court against a resident of Lviv region who, taking advantage of the vulnerable state of relatives of a missing serviceman, swindled UAH 2 million from them.

In March 2025, at a military funeral, the figure met a man whose son had gone missing in the Bakhmut direction, the Office of the Prosecutor General reported on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the perpetrator assured that he had "connections" in the special services and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and could find and return the body of the missing person.

He also claimed that he had supposedly already helped return the body of another soldier.

"In reality, the man only imitated the search. Telling of imaginary trips, he constantly demanded funds for ‘urgent expenses,’ but never even left the Lviv region," the report says.

The department emphasizes that over five months, the man received more than UAH 2.11 million from the soldier’s brother. After the last payment, he reported that the missing person was allegedly alive and in a pre-trial detention center in Voronezh.

"The deception was uncovered after the family contacted the Coordination Headquarters, which confirmed that the information provided was untrue. After this, the victim turned to law enforcement," the prosecutor’s office specifies.

The actions of the accused are qualified under Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – fraud on an especially large scale.