In the Odessa Oblast, an organized crime group (OCG) consisting of local officials is on trial for embezzling state budget funds over a three-year period. According to investigators, the scammers illegally registered state welfare for non-existent large families of Roma mothers, totaling 10.34 million UAH. Despite the scheme being uncovered back in 2018, the judicial process in the Bilyaivka and Odessa courts has dragged on for over seven years, and the case recently had to be restarted from scratch due to a judge’s retirement.
The mastermind behind the criminal scheme was Polina Rista, an unemployed resident originally from the village of Nerubaiske. In late 2015, she devised a plan to obtain state financial aid for low-income families using forged documents. The OCG used «dead souls»—non-existent women who allegedly gave birth at home and were only later registered through medical facilities and civil registry offices (DRACS).
The group involved influential officials from the Usatove Village Council, Bilyaivka City Council, and the Odessa Regional State Administration, including:
Lyalya Dragomaretska — Secretary of the Usatove Village Council;
Olena Grygoryeva — Head of the Social Protection Department at the Usatove Village Council;
Yulia Kaplunova — Former Acting Head of the Children’s Services Department;
Olena Velychko — Head of the Bilyaivka Registry Office, who directly fabricated the personal files;
Svitlana Pidmazko — Then-head of the cash payouts department at the Bilyaivka District State Administration, who approved the illicit transactions.
As members of a specialized commission, the Usatove Village Council officials falsified assessment reports regarding the living conditions of the non-existent Roma families. In total, the fraudsters fabricated personal files for 89 non-existent «mothers» using fabricated names (such as Zemfira Ogli, Maia Ogli, and Tamara Ogli).
The Scale of the Cynicism: Bank accounts were opened at «Oschadbank» under the names of these phantom individuals. A bank employee withdrew cash from the cards every month and handed it over to the accomplices. Over the three years the scheme operated, the state managed to transfer between 150,000 and 268,000 UAH for each fake mother.
Law enforcement agencies uncovered the large-scale embezzlement of state funds in October 2018. During raids targeting the suspects, authorities seized over 330,000 UAH in cash, 76 bank receipts, dozens of SIM cards, and a scrap of paper containing bookkeeping notes for the leader: «Polina! Total 448,200».
The investigation revealed that lower-level employees of the social protection department, who were unaware of the conspiracy, had previously noticed discrepancies in the passports and tax IDs and had submitted memos to management. However, instead of launching an internal investigation, the agency’s leadership began intimidating subordinates, forcing them to «turn a blind eye» to the illegal transfers of budget funds.
The criminal case—prosecuted under Articles 191 and 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (misappropriation of property and forgery by an official)—has lingered in courts for years without any actual verdicts. The case was repeatedly bounced between the Kyivskyi and Prymorskyi district courts of Odessa and the Bilyaivka District Court.
The main defendants, including OCG leader Polina Rista and officials Dragomaretska, Grygoryeva, and Pidmazko, received only house arrest as a restrictive measure. Prosecutors repeatedly requested that the defendants be taken into custody, but judges rejected the motions every time.
The situation escalated in May 2025 when the local judge handling the case retired. The proceedings were handed over to a new judge, Maryna Pasichnyk. According to Article 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, due to the change of judge, the trial on the merits had to be restarted completely from the beginning. Currently, hearings are mostly held online and primarily address procedural matters, such as consolidating the separate cases of various accomplices into a single proceeding.