The members of the criminal group who illegally seized apartments in Odessa for 27 million UAH will appear before the court
Illegally obtained apartments were sold by intruders to bona fide buyers. The cases against three of their accomplices are already pending in court.
The fraudulent “scheme” of possession of real estate was exposed by the operatives of the Department of Strategic Investigations in the Odessa region of the National Police together with law enforcement colleagues.
As the police established, developed and implemented a fraudulent “scheme” of seizing real estate objects of three Odessa residents, including an acting lawyer and a former law enforcement officer. The registrar and two people with criminal connections helped with the “business”. Each of them had its own “zone” of control.
Using access to state electronic registers, as well as information received from real estate market participants, attackers searched for potential victims. In particular, citizens who paid for the purchase of apartments, but for various reasons did not have time to register the fact of acquiring ownership of real estate. The members of the group paid attention only to those persons who purchased real estate, the construction of which was suspended for some time, and their commissioning took place with a significant deviation from the planned deadlines.
Having found the right object, they forged and produced the necessary package of documents for the acquisition of real estate into ownership and, using fake persons, decorated apartments for them. Subsequently, the property was sold on the secondary market to bona fide buyers, and the funds from the sale were distributed among all members of the criminal group.
According to this “scheme” the attackers managed to seize 19 apartments of citizens in the city. Odessa for a total amount of more than 27 million UAH.
In the fall of last year, law enforcement officers detained two people and, as a result of searches of the places of residence of all participants in the transaction, they seized forged passports in the name of citizens of Ukraine and foreigners, seals of the notary of the Russian Federation, as well as documentation confirming their criminal activities. Then all members of the group are investigators of the SBI Regional Directorate, located in the city. Nikolaev, reported on suspicion.
The pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings has been completed, in agreement with the Odessa Regional Prosecutor's Office, the indictment against three persons has been sent to court. They incriminate the commission of crimes provided for in Part 4 of Art. 190 (fraud), Part 1 of Art. 209 (legalization (laundering) of property obtained by criminal means), Part 3, 4 of Art. 358 (forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of counterfeit documents, seals, stamps) and Part 2 of Art. 364 (abuse of power or official position) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Earlier, criminal proceedings were sent to court with indictments against three more people. The registrar is charged with the commission of a criminal offense provided for in Part 2 of Art. 367 (official negligence), and two more defendants — Part 4 of Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The trial is currently ongoing.
The pre-trial investigation into the illegal alienation of part of the objects is still ongoing, the evidence base of the involvement of these intruders is being collected, as well as the establishment of a full circle of participants involved in the “scheme”.
For the crime, the defendants may face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Department of Strategic Investigations of the National Police of Ukraine
