A group suspected of misappropriating the flats of deceased citizens has been uncovered in Kropyvnytskyi
Operatives from the National Police’s Strategic Investigations Department in the Kirovohrad region, together with investigators from the regional police, have uncovered a scheme involving the unlawful seizure of property.
According to the investigation, the targets were flats whose owners had died and whose heirs were either absent or had not yet managed to register their rights.
Upon receiving information about such properties, the ringleader and his accomplices forged ownership documents, including certificates, references and registration certificates. They also sought out individuals to act as nominal owners during the re-registration process, registered the flats in the names of these frontmen, and subsequently sold them.
One case concerns the flat of a resident of Kropyvnytskyi who died in 2022. According to the investigation, on the basis of forged documents, ownership was registered in the name of a front person and the property was sold to buyers. In another case, the suspects attempted to influence potential heirs by offering to help them register their property rights in exchange for a share of the proceeds.
Investigators established that between 2017 and 2023, the group’s members acquired three flats worth almost 2.4 million hryvnias. In addition, they attempted to appropriate two further properties with a total value of over 3.3 million hryvnias.
On 14 April, law enforcement officers carried out searches at the residences of individuals suspected of involvement in the scheme. Four key members have been charged.
They are charged with fraud on a particularly large scale, attempted misappropriation of property on a particularly large scale, forgery and use of forged documents, as well as the legalisation of property obtained by criminal means.
Two other members of the group had previously been charged, and preventive measures were imposed on them. The issue of imposing preventive measures on other suspects is currently being decided.
According to law enforcement officials, all those involved in the scheme are being identified and their possible involvement in other incidents is being investigated.
The maximum penalty under these articles is up to eight years’ imprisonment.
The Kirovohrad Regional Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing the proceedings.
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