A group of extortionists were arrested in Odesa, who kidnapped a businessman.

In Odesa, law enforcement officers arrested three men suspected of kidnapping a businessman and extorting one million dollars from him. According to the prosecutor's office, the 46-year-old resident of Vinnytsia was the organizer of the crime, and he had enlisted the help of three accomplices, aged 28 to 33 – a foreigner, an Odesa resident, and a resident of the Mykolaiv region.

Previously, the suspects and the victim were both involved in farming and grain trading in Mykolaiv region. When the partners experienced financial difficulties, the suspects claimed that the entrepreneur owed them a significant sum of money.

In early October, they invited a man to their office on Marazlievsky Street in Odesa. The organizer allegedly threatened him with a knife and then shot at his legs, and later struck him in the head with the butt of a pistol. Other members of the group prevented the victim from escaping. Threatening to harm the businessman and his family, the perpetrators demanded a million dollars.

Over the next two weeks, the suspects effectively controlled every aspect of the man's life: they alternated living in his house, accompanied him to work and back, restricted his movements, and forced him to transfer property. Initially, the businessman was forced to travel to Mykolaiv, and then he was transported to Kyiv, where under pressure, he signed a power of attorney to manage his apartment. After this, the extortionists demanded that they also be registered as the owners of his mother's house.

All members of the group have been informed of the suspicion of illegal detention and extortion (Article 146, paragraph 2, and Article 189, paragraph 4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The organizer and two of his accomplices have been placed under arrest without the possibility of posting bail. The whereabouts of the fourth suspect are currently being investigated.