A 34-year-old sommelier at a prestigious restaurant in Kyiv is suspected of large-scale fraud. According to police, he convinced management, colleagues, and regular customers to invest in a "profitable scheme" to purchase elite alcohol, promising big profits from reselling the drinks to VIP clients.
Instead of the promised purchase of wines and cognacs, the man spent the money entrusted to him in an online casino. In total, as investigators established, the attacker embezzled more than 1.7 million hryvnias. Among the victims were seven people, each of whom invested an average of 6 thousand dollars. None of them saw either the alcohol or the promised profit.
The defendant has already been notified of suspicion under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - fraud on an especially large scale. If he is proven guilty in court, he faces up to 8 years in prison.
Law enforcement officers urge citizens to be cautious and carefully check where and with whom they invest their money, even if it involves acquaintances or supposedly reliable employees of elite institutions.
