Under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General, a former head of the district court, three lawyers, the head of the homeowners' association, and their accomplice have been charged with fraud committed on a particularly large scale and the legalization of property obtained through criminal means. They are suspected of organizing a scheme for the illegal acquisition of real estate, which, after the death of the owner, was supposed to be transferred to the territorial community as unclaimed inheritance.

According to the investigation, in 2020, after the death of a woman who had no heirs, her apartment in Kyiv was to be transferred to the community. Instead, the judge and his accomplices devised a plan for fraudulent acquisition of this apartment.

To this end, acting in collusion, they organized the submission of a knowingly unfounded lawsuit to the court to recognize ownership of this property by inheritance.

The lawsuit was filed by a man who had no relation to the woman or her property. To create artificial jurisdiction and substantiate the claims, the suspects provided false information regarding the circumstances of living with the deceased and the ownership of other property. Thus, the plaintiff stated that he lived with the deceased woman and claimed that she owned a house in the city of Skvyra, which actually belongs to another person.

In March 2021, the court ruled in favor of the lawsuit. Subsequently, based on this decision, ownership of the apartment was registered in the name of a fictitious "heir," after which the property was sold to a third party for 34,500 US dollars.

Based on the collected evidence, the former head of the district court has been charged with aiding and abetting fraud, official forgery, and illegal interference in the operation of automated systems (under Part 5 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 190, Part 1 of Article 366, Part 1 of Article 376-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).   

Three lawyers and the head of the homeowners' association have been charged with aiding and abetting fraud committed on a particularly large scale and the legalization of property obtained through criminal means (under Part 5 of Article 27, Part 4 of Article 190, Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). 

The fictitious plaintiff has been charged with fraud and the legalization of property (under Part 4 of Article 190, Part 2 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The prosecution has prepared a motion to the court for the imposition of preventive measures on the suspects.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the State Bureau of Investigation with operational support from the Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine.

Measures are being taken to restore the violated rights of the territorial community and to return the illegally alienated property.

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 their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.