Two Ukrainian nationals have been detained on the Thai island of Phuket on charges of tax evasion in the United States
Two Ukrainian citizens wanted in the U.S. for fraud and tax evasion were arrested in Phuket on Tuesday. The pair fled to Thailand after warrants were issued for their arrest earlier this month in Florida, Manager Online reported.
The suspects are accused of providing jobs to hundreds of illegal immigrants in America from 2007 to 2021 and $10 million in tax evasion. The arrests were announced at 11 a.m. today at a press conference held jointly by the Royal Thai Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. Department asked the Royal Thai Police to help locate and arrest Alexander Yurchik, 37, and Oleg Olynyk, 39. Officers from the Transnational Crimes Unit discovered that the men had fled the U.S. and entered Thailand on tourist visas.
Alexander and Oleg owned several recruiting companies in Florida, where they employed hundreds of illegal immigrants in hotels, bars and restaurants from 2007 to 2021. The total income from illegal employment was 2.25 billion baht. The couple allegedly avoided paying $10 million (337 million baht) in employment taxes.
The arrests were announced this morning by U.S. Department of Homeland Security regional attaché Eric McLaughlin and Lieutenant General Jirapop Phuriday, commissioner of the Thai Central Bureau of Police Investigation. The latter commented on the international cooperation needed to catch transnational criminals:
“The Royal Thai Police is always coordinating with foreign countries because crime today can be transnational. Therefore, it is necessary to create networks to deal with the crimes that occur.”
Ukrainian citizens arrested in Phuket will be deported back to the United States, where they will be prosecuted according to the law.
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