In the last few months, the police in Graz have uncovered a remarkable gang of thieves who managed to operate under the guise of Ukrainian refugees.
Four Belarusians, aged between 19 and 32, are suspected of committing a string of thefts across Austria. Their approach was not only brazen but also well thought out – they claimed to be Ukrainian refugees to obtain a residence permit and operate in the country with forged documents.
The whole operation began in late September 2024, when a 22-year-old suspect was arrested in Graz for a shoplifting incident. Initially, it seemed like a one-off, but further investigation revealed it was part of a large-scale criminal network. The investigators found that the suspect was not only active in Austria but also in other European countries. He obtained a residence permit and a visa using forged papers that presented him as a Ukrainian refugee.
The criminals’ scheme was both sophisticated and ruthless: using their fake identities, they booked accommodations across the federal territory and regularly changed their locations to evade the police. Their thefts went beyond simple shoplifting – they specifically targeted high-value bicycles, stealing them during business hours. Behind the scenes, accomplices observed the stores and later collected the loot. The damage totalled in the tens of thousands of euros.
The police were able to uncover the criminal network by working closely with foreign authorities and various special task forces. In mid-January, European arrest warrants were issued, leading to the arrest of all four suspects. They are now in the Graz-Jakomini prison, awaiting trial.
This case sheds a telling light on the dangers associated with forged identities and documents. Given the refugee crisis, the integrity of the asylum system is of utmost importance. The scheme of these criminals shows how perpetrators can misuse the status of a refugee to gain illegal access to a country and engage in illegal activities there.
The exposure of these criminals is a success for the police, but the question remains: how many more such cases are there? And what lessons can be learned from this incident to prevent the misuse of the asylum system in the future?