SSU: Drug Baron from Dnipro Temuri Lomidze appropriated donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

SSU: Drug Baron from Dnipro Temuri Lomidze appropriated donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police have uncovered a large-scale scheme of misappropriation of charitable donations for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which operated in the south and east of Ukraine.

This was reported in an official statement by the SSU.

According to the investigation, the scheme operated under the guise of a charitable foundation established in Dnipro by a local recidivist who is under investigation for drug trafficking.

The Security Service traditionally does not disclose the names of the suspects. However, thanks to the Telegram channel «Operational AFU», we know that it concerns the charitable foundation «Together We Are United», which, according to the Opendatabot service, was founded by Temuri Lomidze (pictured below). Temuri Lomidze is a key figure in a criminal case involving a drug cartel from Pavlohrad.

As the investigation established, the suspects, posing as volunteers, collected funds supposedly to support Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. However, only 10% of the total donations were allocated to frontline needs, while the remaining 90% were distributed among all participants of the «scheme».

According to the investigation, the organizer involved nine accomplices in the scheme, dressing them in military uniforms for concealment. Notably, only two of the participants in the scheme had any connection to military service.

To collect donations, the fraudsters spread out across various cities, setting up cash collection boxes on central streets. On September 17, law enforcement conducted 20 searches in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. In just one of the episodes, law enforcement documented the embezzlement of 556,000 UAH in charitable aid.

At the same time, the SSU emphasized that the criminal case pertains to only one charitable foundation and is not connected to other volunteer or charitable organizations in Ukraine. «The SSU highly values the volunteer and charitable movement that exists in our country. We urge citizens to support the Security and Defense Forces in every way possible, but to remain vigilant to avoid falling victim to fraudulent schemes,» the statement reads.

The head of the foundation and five of his accomplices have been charged under Part 3 of Article 201-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – illegal use of humanitarian aid, charitable donations, or free assistance for profit, committed by a group of persons under prior conspiracy during martial law. All suspects have been detained, and the issue of imposing a preventive measure in the form of custody is being resolved. In total, they face up to seven years in prison with confiscation of property.