In Kyiv, police are investigating a large-scale fraud involving a representative of the Kit Group exchange network. According to criminal proceedings, the man lost 1.2 million euros in cryptocurrency while attempting to withdraw funds through a pseudo-exchange scheme.
It all started on September 20, 2024, when two individuals offered a representative of Kit Group a deal: to purchase the equivalent in USDT cryptocurrency for 1.2 million euros in non-cash form. Minyala, born in 1995, agreed and engaged a trusted person who transferred 1.24 million USDT from the company's crypto wallets to wallets indicated by the alleged buyers.
At the same time, the funds in euros did indeed arrive — in parts, to the account of Buildmat Production and Delivery KFT, a company registered in Hungary, which was controlled by one of the fraudsters. The money was transferred by the Lithuanian company UAB Acus vaistinė, with the wording "payment by invoice."
However, a fraudulent scheme was then put into effect: the attackers provided the bank with forged documents and obtained the return of all funds, allegedly due to non-fulfillment of the agreement. Thus, Kit Group was left without both USDT and money.
The investigation established that the attackers immediately began to "launder" the stolen cryptocurrency. Some of the assets were transferred to the wallet of a Moldovan citizen, the rest was mixed through anonymous "mixer" services using disposable wallets. Then there was cash, exchange through the 001k Exchange service, as well as transactions through the Kyrrex crypto exchange and the UAB PaySaxas payment platform.
All this, according to the investigation, is part of the activities of a criminal organization operating in Ukraine, using fictitious companies, front persons and cryptocurrency to commit fraud on a particularly large scale. The key tactic is to create the illusion of a legal transaction, with the provision of fictitious contracts and the use of companies such as Acus vaistinė.
A separate line of investigation is the origin of the funds that the representative of "Kit Group" held in cryptocurrency. Law enforcement officers are investigating where the private exchanger got such an amount from and whether there are parallel financial violations on the part of the company itself.
Recall that the NBU has already opened an investigation into the activities of Kit Group due to suspicion of financial fraud, and this story only adds fuel to the fire.
