Two local elected officials, along with a land surveyor, embezzled more than 4.5 hectares of state-owned land, and the swindlers stole hectares of land in Velyki Lazy and the Horyany neighborhood by forging documents through front men. When the ringleader was arrested, a relative of his attempted to post bail using hidden criminal proceeds but was caught by investigators.
The Security Service of Ukraine, investigators from the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast, and the Zakarpattia Oblast Prosecutor’s Office conducted a large-scale special operation and detained four members of an organized criminal group. The criminals had established a system for embezzling and selling state- and municipally-owned land in the suburbs of Uzhhorod with a total value of over 13 million hryvnias.
During the investigation, law enforcement officials conducted approximately 40 authorized searches, seizing computer equipment, forged seals, archival files, rough notes, and significant amounts of cash.
Hierarchy and Roles: Who Led the Scheme
The group operated under strict coordination and a clear division of responsibilities:
- Organizer: A 36-year-old member of the Baraninsky Village Council. Drawing on his experience as a former land affairs specialist, he personally sought out attractive unregistered plots, was well-versed in the intricacies of archival procedures, and managed all stages of the fraud;
- Accomplice-Council Member: his 58-year-old colleague on the Baraninsky Village Council, who was responsible for finding solvent buyers, conducting negotiations, and accumulating illicit funds;
- Perpetrators: a 37-year-old certified land surveyor who forged technical documentation and illegally used the seals of third-party businesses, as well as a 24-year-old unemployed woman from Uzhhorod who collected passport data from straw men (“fronts”) for the fictitious registration of initial property ownership.
Which land parcels were transferred and subject to seizure
The illegal transfer of more than 4.6 hectares of strategically valuable land from municipal and state ownership has been documented:
- Velyki Lazy: 10 municipal plots with a total area of 2.4 hectares, valued at over 5 million UAH;
- Uzhhorod (Horyany neighborhood): 6 state-owned plots totaling 2.2 hectares with a market value of over 8.2 million UAH.
The acquired land parcels were subdivided, transferred between affiliated individuals, and put up for commercial sale. Rough notes from law enforcement officials indicate that the fraudsters planned to expand the scheme and sell land worth over $500,000 (over 12 million hryvnias).
Currently, court orders have placed all 16 illegally transferred plots under seizure.
Bail Failure: How the Lawmaker’s Brother Was Arrested
The court imposed a pretrial detention order on the 36-year-old leader of the group, with the option of posting bail in the amount of 3 million hryvnias.
Hoping to be released immediately, the lawmaker, directly from the courtroom, instructed his brother to locate the hidden foreign currency obtained from the land deals and exchange it for the national currency.
The plan failed: SBU and police operatives uncovered the transaction and caught the organizer’s brother red-handed immediately after he completed the currency exchange at one of the city’s exchange offices. They seized 2.5 million hryvnias of funds of dubious origin from him, which were intended to pay the bail.
Charges and Potential Punishment
All suspects have been officially charged under the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Parts 4 and 5 of Article 190—fraud committed on an especially large scale by an organized group;
- Parts 2 and 3 of Article 209 — legalization (laundering) of proceeds obtained by criminal means, committed as part of an organized group;
- Part 3 of Article 358 — forgery of documents, seals, stamps, and forms, as well as the sale or use of forged documents by prior conspiracy.
The penalties under these articles provide for up to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. The pretrial investigation is ongoing under the procedural supervision of the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast / Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Zakarpattia Oblast / Zakarpattia Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.
