An Epicenter employee scammed a Kyiv woman out of 45,000 hryvnias by selling non-existent household appliances. Here's the court's decision.

A man disguised as an employee of Epicenter arranged a deal with a woman for the sale of household appliances. She handed him 45,000 hryvnias, but never received the goods. This is detailed in the decision of the Svyatoshyn District Court of Kyiv, published on January 30, 2024.

On December 23, 2023, the man, posing as an employee of "Epicenter-K" LLC, communicated with the woman via the Viber mobile application and sent her the details required for a prepayment for the household appliances. In turn, the victim transferred 8,500 hryvnias to his PrivatBank card using the "Monobank" mobile app. He suggested that she meet him at the "Epicenter-K" store under the pretext of assessing the goods and receiving full payment for the selected items.

On December 24, 2023, the man demonstratively showcased the products available on the shelves at Epicenter, assuring the victim of his genuine intentions, and proposed to go to the parking lot to receive the full payment for the chosen goods. She handed over cash totaling 36,500 hryvnias, receiving a promise for the delivery of the household appliances as soon as possible, after which he vanished from the scene of the crime. Subsequently, he did not provide the household appliances, did not refund the money, and stopped communicating, misappropriating the funds for his own use, causing the victim financial damage amounting to 45,000 hryvnias.

What punishment did the court impose?

The court found the man guilty of committing a criminal offense as stipulated in part 1 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to a year of restricted liberty. Based on Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, he was released from serving the sentence with probation, establishing a probation period of 1 year. According to paragraphs 1, 2 of part 1 and paragraph 2 of part 3 of Article 76 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, he was assigned the following obligations: to periodically appear for registration with the authorized probation authority; to inform the authorized probation authority of any changes in residence or employment; and not to leave Ukraine without the consent of the authorized probation authority.