As the Security Service established, the attacker turned out to be the head of the Odessa branch of one of the All-Ukrainian public organizations. He used the authority given to him and the leverage of public influence to put pressure on local businesses. And his ultimate goal was his own enrichment.

So, he demanded 600,000 US dollars from one of the heads of the agricultural company to "not create problems" for his business.

In particular, according to the investigation, a pseudo-public figure, based on unreliable data, wrote a number of complaints and petitions regarding the circumstances of reorganizing one of the agricultural enterprises of Odessa in 2019. Thus, he initiated inspections by law enforcement officers.

At the same time, the attacker used the controlled mass media to create a negative "informational background" around the company's activities. They were threatened to publish a "compromise" regarding his manager's legality of actions, decisions and integrity.

And to stop these artificial obstacles, he demanded money.

The perpetrator has been charged with suspicion under Part 2 of Art. 189 (extortion) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. An investigation is ongoing to identify and bring to justice all persons involved in the illegal extortion scheme.

Measures to expose the illegal enrichment scheme were carried out by the Department of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Odessa region together with the investigative department of the State Police of the Odesa region under the procedural guidance of the Odessa regional prosecutor's office.