Legal Proceedings on Property Fraud in Odessa
The Odessa regional prosecutor's office has submitted a case to court against a lawyer and two members of an organized criminal group, who, under the leadership of a city council member, illegally acquired real estate in downtown Odessa valued at more than 11 million UAH.
They are charged with fraudulent acquisition of municipal property, document forgery, illegal occupation of land, and unauthorized construction (Part 3 of Article 28, Parts 3 and 4 of Article 358, Part 4 of Article 190, Part 3 of Article 197-1, Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Investigators established that the council member, who served on the municipal property commission, developed a scheme for illegal enrichment by registering property rights to real estate that was owned directly or indirectly by territorial communities.
He involved a lawyer and trusted associates in his scheme.
The accomplices sought municipal premises on the first and second floors in the city center, rented them through controlled public organizations and businesses, and then purchased them on a non-competitive basis.
They subsequently expanded the area of already purchased premises by including attics and basements, and based on falsified documents, registered ownership rights in the names of shell companies.
Some of the illegally acquired non-residential properties were converted into residential apartments and sold to innocent buyers.
In this way, the organized group seized three real estate objects in downtown Odessa and a land plot in the Peresyp district, causing losses of over 11 million UAH to the territorial community.
The accused were exposed in May this year, and preventive measures were chosen in the form of detention with an alternative to bail.
In the context of the criminal proceedings, the prosecutor's office filed a civil lawsuit to recover damages.
Materials regarding the organizing council member were allocated to a separate case, and he has been placed on an international wanted list.
The pre-trial investigation was conducted by the investigators of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Odessa region, with operational support from the Security Service of Ukraine in the Odessa region.
Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until proven guilty by law and established by a court verdict.
