In Odessa, a coach collected half a million from his students for a trip to a children’s camp and used the money to pay off a loan

In Odessa, a coach collected half a million hryvnias from his students for a two-week trip to a children’s camp but used the money to pay off his own debt.

This was reported by the Odessa Regional Police Department No. 1.

As law enforcement officers established, a 41-year-old coach of one of the sports clubs, who had outstanding debts on a loan, decided to pay them off using the funds from his students. In early July, the man promised young athletes to organize training sessions at a children’s summer camp in another region. According to the perpetrator, they needed to pay for a two-week stay at the camp and for tickets. Trusting the coach, the families of the young athletes willingly handed over money to him in person and transferred it to his bank card.

Almost the entire summer, the children hoped for a fun vacation at the camp, but in August, the coach informed them that the trip would not happen. Without receiving either the promised training sessions or a refund of their money, twenty residents of Odessa turned to the police.

“During the pre-trial investigation, investigators proved the involvement of the suspect in the crime, and based on the collected evidence, under the procedural guidance of the Primorsky District Prosecutor’s Office in Odessa, he was informed of suspicion of misappropriation of someone else’s property through abuse of trust, i.e., fraud, committed repeatedly, which caused significant damage. This crime was classified under Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the police noted.

Under the law, the coach faces a fine ranging from 51,000 to 68,000 hryvnias, or correctional labor for a term of one to two years, or imprisonment for up to five years, or deprivation of liberty for a term of up to three years.