The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has seized 40 premium cars as part of a large-scale criminal investigation into an illegal vehicle import scheme into Ukraine. Among those arrested are Tesla, Audi, Volkswagen, Volvo and other cars imported with significantly undervalued customs values.
According to the international detective agency ABSOLUTION, the investigation uncovered organized groups in Lviv, Volyn, and Rivne regions, who acted in conjunction with unidentified customs officials. They systematically imported vehicles into Ukraine, fictitiously reducing their invoice value to minimize customs payments.
The cars were sold for cash without reflecting the income in tax reporting. To cover up the scheme, controlled non-resident companies from the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark and Germany were used, which acted as formal suppliers. After customs clearance, the funds from the sale of cars were taken abroad through non-commodity transactions.
One of the key figures in the case is Keps Auto LLC (Lutsk), which imported vehicles worth almost 95 million hryvnias in 2023–2024. Investigators found that the company took more than $4.6 million abroad. Its manager and owner is Vitaliy Anatoliyovych Khoromets, who is currently wanted for leaving a military unit on February 5, 2025.
The investigation paid special attention to foreign economic contracts that turned out to be fictitious. For example, the Czech company INTERNATIONAL TRADING HOUSE SRO, formally involved in the supply, is registered under a Ukrainian who has not traveled to the Czech Republic since 2021. His signatures on the contracts do not match the passport samples.
Representatives of companies from Poland, Denmark, and Germany, according to information from the border service, did not enter Ukraine at all on the days the contracts were concluded. All of this is evidence of systemic fictitiousness and legalization of proceeds from crime.
The investigation is ongoing. Within the framework of the proceedings under Part 3 of Article 212, Part 3 of Article 209 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, searches, seizures of property and interrogations of the suspects are ongoing.
