In the Ternopil region, authorities uncovered a scheme for producing fake driver's licenses, with prices ranging from 11,000 to 20,000 hryvnias.

In the Ternopil region, law enforcement officials have uncovered a criminal group whose members established a large-scale operation for the production and distribution of counterfeit driver's licenses. Six individuals have been charged with suspicion. This was reported by the regional police.

For a fee, the criminals created licenses for driving and mailed them to their clients.

They advertised their services on various online platforms and accepted orders via messaging apps. The price of the counterfeit licenses ranged from 11,000 to 20,000 hryvnias, depending on the required category of the license.

To receive payments, the perpetrators utilized a network of post offices, where they presented fake documents using the names of real individuals but with their own photographs.

“The criminal scheme operated on a strict schedule – a batch of documents was sent out once a week. During this time, they managed to produce about 400 counterfeits. According to operational information, the profit generated by the organized crime group exceeds 35 million hryvnias,” the police stated.

Law enforcement conducted around 20 authorized searches at the suspects' locations in the Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv regions. During these operations, evidence of the criminals' illegal activities was discovered and seized.

Currently, the organizer of the illegal business and five of his accomplices have been formally charged with committing a crime as part of an organized criminal group under part 3 of Article 199 (Production, storage, acquisition, transportation, mailing, importation into Ukraine for the purpose of using in the sale of goods, distribution or sale of counterfeit money, state securities existing in paper form, state lottery tickets, excise tax stamps or holographic security elements) and parts 3 and 4 of Article 358 (Forgery of documents, seals, stamps, and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

For the forgery, use, and distribution of state-issued documents with holographic security features, the members of the organized crime group face up to 12 years in prison.