BES seized a tobacco factory from Vadym Alperin, the "Odesa smuggling king"

BES seized a tobacco factory from Vadym Alperin, the "Odesa smuggling king"

Cigarettes with fake excise stamps were riveted there.

Detectives from the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) conducted searches at the production and warehouses of a tobacco company, which is associated with a “well-known sanctioned Odesa smuggler.” According to Economic Pravda sources, we are talking about Vadym Alperin.

“During the searches, BES employees seized a line for the production of tobacco products, on which cigarettes were illegally produced,” the BES statement says.

Previously, BES detectives established that the licensee company, together with controlled companies, illegally produces and sells cigarettes with counterfeit excise tax stamps.

The Bureau of Economic Security conducted searches in warehouse, office and production premises of legal entities controlled by an Odesa businessman.

The bureau did not indicate the name of the businessman, but noted that personal sanctions were applied against him for smuggling and on April 14, 2021, his citizenship was terminated by presidential decree. Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin matches the description of law enforcement officers.

On October 12, 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court closed criminal proceedings against Odesa businessman Vadym Alperin, whom President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called “one of the godfathers of smuggling in Ukraine” and promised a gift for finding him.

Businessman Vadym Alperin and his accomplices were accused of creating a criminal organization that, through fraud, illegally imported goods into Ukraine. According to investigators, losses amounted to more than UAH 63.8 million. Alperin is also under sanctions from the National Security and Defence Council.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy put into effect the decision of the National Security and Defence Council to apply personal sanctions against 86 legal entities, as well as seven individuals, including citizens of foreign states.

grom-ua.org