A Russian police officer in Ufa organized a fraudulent scheme in which sex workers married criminal suspects to claim military sign-on bonuses, according to investigators.
The Investigative Committee of Russia uncovered multiple cases of sham marriages in the region of Bashkortostan, Russian news outlet Baza reported. Investigators said the police inspector convinced detained offenders and previously convicted men to join the military on condition that they married women he brought to them.
Authorities have established at least one episode in which the fraudsters obtained 2.2 million rubles in sign-on payments issued for a military recruit. Along with the officer who organized the scheme, three women who acted as brides and cashiers are under investigation, and a criminal case for fraud has been opened.
Enlistment scam in Ufa
The suspect, an inspector with a mobile platoon of the Patrol and Guard Service in Ufa, had been targeting lawbreakers and previously convicted men since 2025. He persuaded them to sign enlistment contracts for service in the special military operation in Ukraine after agreeing to marry the women.
The sex workers involved in the scheme received a percentage of the stolen money. Once the marriages were registered, the women were able to collect financial payouts and allowances designated for soldiers.
Ufa is the regional capital of Bashkortostan, located between the Volga River and Ural Mountains in central Russia. Russian authorities offer substantial financial payments to recruits who sign contracts to fight in Ukraine. The Patrol and Guard Service, known as the PPS, is the uniformed street policing division in Russia.
Widespread fraud investigations
The Investigative Committee of Russia is the country's primary federal agency responsible for investigating official corruption and serious crimes. News of the Ufa case was reported by Baza, a Russian digital news outlet that frequently publishes details from law enforcement investigations.
The scheme is part of a broader crackdown on military payout fraud across the country. In a separate case in the Bryansk region, a court placed the widow of a soldier killed in the military operation under house arrest over a multi-million ruble scam involving army benefits.
