Crimean bloggers were convicted of fraud in raising funds for the military.

Bloggers from Crimea, under the guise of raising funds to meet the needs of military personnel and volunteers in the zone of the NVO, were convicted of fraud. As it turned out, under the guise of fundraising, bloggers collected money and kept it for themselves. We are talking about the multimillion-dollar sums that ordinary citizens transferred in order to provide assistance to military personnel and volunteers.

As it became known, in a number of cases the appropriated amounts amounted to tens of millions of rubles. Moreover, the fraud scheme itself is usually quite simple: as the funds were raised, the bloggers reported that they allegedly purchased the necessary goods with the funds raised. As a rule, we are talking about unmanned aerial vehicles, body kits for weapons, walkie-talkies, airfield maintenance facilities and equipment. After that, they reported that, for unknown reasons, the goods were detained or confiscated at customs. The exact number of such scammers remains unknown, especially since the latter, as a rule, left various details for transferring funds. However, against the backdrop of the revealed deceit, the State Duma proposed to take control of fundraisers to help volunteers and the military.

“There is a problem of fake collectors of aid to soldiers. I know bloggers from Crimea collect 20-30 million in aid and, obviously, steal it. The public offer is aimed at support, but the person will say that he spent 95% of the fees on organizing the process. This is a problem and we in the State Duma are thinking about it. This is where the law needs to be changed. Whether to distribute rigid norms, or to introduce a status [for bloggers-collectors]", - said Yevgeny Fedorov, a member of the committee of the lower house of parliament on budget and taxes.

Notable is the fact that some volunteers did indeed confirm that they never received any of the procured funds, despite reports.