Story By: Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor:  Joseph Golder,  Agency: Newsflash

The Ukrainian police have shut down an international ring which allegedly sold newborn babies from hospitals abroad for 40,000 GBP.

The police arrested the managers of a hospital in the Ukrainian capital Kiev along with other Ukrainian residents and foreigners accused of participating and aiding in the transportation and sale of children abroad.

The scheme reportedly worked by foreign men having fake marriages using falsified documents with Ukrainian women. The hospital, which has not been named, would then provide the couple with a child using a surrogate mother, with false documents and letters of attorney being used to then transport the children abroad.

According to the press service of the local police department, the average cost for a child to be transported abroad was around 50,000 USD (40,200 GBP), of which the fee for the organisation of artificial insemination was 15,000 USD (12,000 GBP), while the documents and services for the fictitious marriage started from 1,000 – 1,500 USD (800 – 1,200 GBP)

The operation was carried out by officers from the Ukrainian Investigative Committee and the National Police.

The official press service reported: “Eleven searches were carried out on 24th April at the addresses of the residents, offices, clinics and in cars. During the searches medical documents, passports of Ukrainian citizens and certified copies of passports of foreign citizens, letters of attorney for representing interests, other documents, money, laptops, mobile phones, draft recordings and flash media were seized.”

According to the authorities, they managed to establish the flat where the children were being kept while their transportation was being organised in Kiev’s Solomensky district.

Law enforcement officers discovered five babies, aged between two and six weeks old being taken care of by two women and a man.

Juvenile prevention workers took the babies to children’s hospitals in the city of Kiev.

The local prosecutor’s office reported: “The systematisation and analysis of the seized
documentation continues. Measures are being taken to check around 140 foreign citizens for involvement in the movement of newborn children abroad, violating the applicable law.”

The investigation is ongoing and those arrested are being kept in a pre-trial detention centre.

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.