A group of suspects has been caught in Transcarpathia attempting to seize a foreign woman’s property worth over 21 million hryvnias
Operatives from the Strategic Investigations Department in Zakarpattia Oblast, working alongside investigators from the Main Department of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast, established that an employee of one of Kyiv’s municipal transport companies was involved in organising the scheme. According to the investigation, he enlisted the help of his 31-year-old son, who is a law enforcement officer, as well as several accomplices.
Investigators found that the group’s members had forged a power of attorney in the name of a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The document purported to grant powers to a front person to represent her interests in Ukraine.
Subsequently, according to law enforcement, the suspects transferred the corporate rights of the controlled company to the victim and made her the sole owner of the company. They then produced another forged power of attorney, which allowed them to act on behalf of the foreign national as the owner of the company.
According to the police, this was intended to serve as the basis for transferring the victim’s property to the company’s authorised capital, with the property subsequently being resold to third parties.
To carry out the scheme, the group’s members approached a private notary in Zakarpattia and provided a set of documents containing forged powers of attorney. Unaware of the suspects’ likely criminal intentions, the notary certified the documents for the re-registration of the property.
As a result, the flat in Kyiv and the parking space in Uzhhorod were re-registered in the name of a company under their control. The suspects did not manage to complete the scheme and sell the property, as the assets were seized as part of the criminal proceedings.
On 18 May, law enforcement officers carried out nine authorised searches at the suspects’ homes, offices and vehicles. During the investigative operations, mobile phones, computer equipment, USB drives, a car, forged documents, seals, contracts, handover certificates, draft notes and other material evidence were seized.
Five participants in the scheme were served with notices of suspicion under Part 3 of Article 15 and Part 5 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. All suspects were detained in accordance with Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
The court imposed preventive measures on them. Three suspects were remanded in custody with the right to post bail of 9.6 million UAH and nearly 5 million UAH. Bail of 11 million UAH and nearly 10 million UAH was set for the other two.
The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officers are identifying other individuals who may be involved in the scheme.
