Police arrested a crime gang in Odesa after the group allegedly kidnapped a man and demanded $1 million, tied to a debt claim. According to the National Police, the network was led by a crime boss nicknamed “The Italian.” The case also involves attempts to take over real estate and the seizure of 12 trucks. Investigators said the suspects pressured a businessman and his wife for a long time. In mid-October, at a computer club in Mykolaiv, one suspect beat the victim and forced him under threat to sign a receipt for an alleged debt of $1 million. A few days later, during a meeting in Odesa, the ringleader demanded money and the transfer of property ownership, threatening physical violence. Two members then ambushed the businessman in a parking lot near a gym and beat him, again demanding repayment. Police said the attackers took the victim’s personal documents and real estate papers. They demanded transfers of ownership for an apartment in Kyiv and a plot of land with a residential house in the Odesa region. During the alleged kidnapping, the man was kept under constant surveillance and had his ability to move restricted. The group also seized 12 trucks, taking three registered to an acquaintance of the victim to a vehicle dismantling yard in an Odesa-region village. The remaining nine trucks were driven to the grounds of a farm. On November 6, law enforcement detained three suspects, including one caught finalizing the transfer of ownership at a notary’s office. The ringleader and another suspect were also detained that day. Searches in Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Vinnytsia regions turned up MAN trucks and semi-trailers, two cars, more than 100,000 hryvnias in national and foreign currency, and three smoothbore hunting rifles. On November 7, four men were notified they were suspected of extortion and unlawful deprivation of liberty or kidnapping. They were taken into custody. The suspects face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.