Land fraud worth millions

Members of an organized criminal group and their accomplices were exposed in the Poltava region

Law enforcement officers of the Poltava region stopped the activities of an organized criminal group that “specialized” in the acquisition of land plots by falsifying and using government acts on the right of private ownership of land and other crimes.

This was reported by the press service of the Poltava Regional Prosecutor's Office .

The group was headed by a former adviser to the ex-city mayor of one of the settlements in the Poltava region.

He recruited into the group:

• deputy of the Poltava district council and resident of the Poltava region.
• 3 more local residents contributed to the group’s activities.

According to the investigation, during April-November 2023, group members and their accomplices falsified forms of state acts for the right of private ownership of land, using personal data of dummies, archival decisions of village councils from the early 2000s, as well as numbers of already registered acts .

Subsequently, they prepared technical documentation and entered information into the relevant state registers.

Subsequently, the organizer and his proxies entered into notarized sale and purchase transactions with the fictitious shareholders in order to be able to freely dispose of the land plots.

Thus, members of the organized group took possession of 28 land plots with a total area of ​​almost 95 hectares, causing losses to the Kobelyatsk city territorial community totaling more than UAH 4.2 million.

In addition, the pre-trial investigation identified other episodes of criminal activity by the organizer of the group.

In particular, during 2020-2023, he demanded fictitious debts from one of the farmers and representatives of 2 companies. Also, the organizer and his accomplice (a resident of the Poltava region) forged documents and transferred the victims’ vehicles and shares of authorized capital in the business to themselves.

To overcome the resistance of business entities, the group organizer not only made threats, but also resorted to real actions. In particular, in order to force the victims to fulfill their “debt obligations,” he organized the arson of the car of one of the victims and a hangar with agricultural equipment that belonged to the farmer.

As a result of such actions, during the specified period, business entities suffered property damage totaling more than UAH 18 million.

Now the organizer of the criminal group and 5 persons involved in land fraud have been notified of suspicion for:

Part 5 Art. 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud committed under martial law, on an especially large scale, by an organized group);

part 1, 4 tbsp. 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forgery and use of deliberately forged documents).

In addition, the organizer is suspected of committing crimes for:

• part 2, 4 tbsp. 189 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (extortion committed with the threat of causing grievous bodily harm, as well as causing property damage on an especially large scale);
• Part 2 of Article 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (deliberate destruction or damage to someone else’s property, committed by arson);
• Part 3 Art. 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal possession of a vehicle).
• The organizer's accomplice is charged with:
• Part 5 Art. 27 hours 3 tbsp. 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (assistance in illegal seizure of a vehicle).

Also, at the request of the investigator and the prosecutor, a preventive measure was chosen for the organizer - detention without the right to post bail.

Other members of the group and their accomplices are given bail and house arrest.

The pre-trial investigation in criminal proceedings continues. Investigative actions are carried out by the GUNP in the Poltava region, operational support is carried out by the SBU in the Poltava region.