In Ukraine, a "massive scheme of selling infants abroad" was uncovered

In Ukraine, a "massive scheme of selling infants abroad" was uncovered

The Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), the police, and the State Border Guard Service uncovered a large-scale scheme for the illegal sale of newborn children abroad. Law enforcement officers have arrested the assets of the suspects, who have fled Ukraine, stated ARMA’s head Olena Duma on Friday, January 24.

According to the investigation, the owners of private clinics in Kyiv and Kharkiv organized a criminal scheme to sell infants abroad, involving lawyers, translators, and medical staff of the clinics. The cost of the transaction for transferring a child reached 50-70 thousand euros.

«The group operated under the guise of surrogacy, involving women in difficult life circumstances. They were offered 12,000 euros for participating in the program. After the child’s birth, the women were forced to provide false information during registration, renounce the child in favor of foreigners, and consent to the child’s removal from Ukraine», stated Olena Duma.

Law enforcement found that the suspects opened bank accounts in various countries and frequently changed their place of registration. Additionally, the perpetrators actively visited elite resorts around the world.

With the assistance of ARMA, law enforcement identified assets belonging to the suspects, namely:

• 24 real estate properties,
• nine land plots,
• 10 vehicles,
• 2.5 million UAH,
• four intellectual property objects.

«Furthermore, in cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies, ARMA managed to identify vehicles and bank accounts abroad in the USA, Romania, Denmark, and Germany. Facts of the border crossing by the suspects and their entourage have also been confirmed», reported the head of ARMA.

The investigation into the illegal sale of children abroad is currently ongoing.