A Transcarpathian robbed a pensioner under the pretext of raising funds for a sick child (PHOTOS)

A Mukachevo resident stole 180,000 hryvnias from the victims’ apartment in the village of Velyky Bychkiv, Rakhiv district. The man broke into the house under the pretext of raising funds for the treatment of a sick child. The stolen money was confiscated from him. Police have launched an investigation into the theft

The Rakhiv police received a report from a 70-year-old woman that an unknown person had broken into her house in the village of Velyky Bychkiv. The offender stole from the victim’s house cash in total amount of 180 thousand hryvnias.

After carefully inspecting the crime scene, reviewing surveillance camera footage and conducting a series of operational activities, police identified the man involved in the theft – a 24-year-old resident of Mukachevo.

According to the police, the young man under the pretext of raising funds for a seriously ill child, begged for money from residents of Rakhiv district. He was carrying a photo with a "fake" diagnosis of the patient to convince people.

The offender tried to cheat the victim in the same way. However, when he saw that the owners were not at home, he went inside and stole a purse with 180,000 hryvnias from the living room. Later, he exchanged the stolen money for foreign currency in an exchange office in Mukachevo.

Police investigators registered the incident in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Part 3 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The stolen money was confiscated by the police from the house of the thief’s relatives in the village of Verkhnya Vyznytsia, Mukachevo district. The money will be returned to the victim soon.

Currently, the police have established the man’s involvement in a number of similar crimes committed in the district.

The thief faces up to six years in prison, the Communications department of the Transcarpathian region police informed.