Forged a power of attorney and sold 40 plots of someone else's land - a realtor suspected of multimillion-dollar fraud fled abroad

In Kyiv region, a realtor who helped an entrepreneur buy and register land plots forged a power of attorney on his behalf and sold his client's land for more than UAH 30 million. The fact that the power of attorney was forged was confirmed by all courts, including the Supreme Court. The realtor was served a notice of suspicion of fraud on a particularly large scale committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy. To avoid responsibility, he went abroad, and from there, in turn, he claims that the entrepreneur borrowed money from him, and now he has to return 50 million hryvnias, UNN writes.

In 2013 and 2016, a Kyiv businessman issued two powers of attorney to realtor Serhiy Lyashkevych to purchase land plots on his behalf, register and divide them, change their designated purpose, and represent him in the authorities on these issues. 

During 2014-2018, Lyashkevich bought 40 land plots for the entrepreneur near Kyiv. 

At the end of November 2018, the man was surprised to learn that the realtor, without his knowledge and without any rights to do so, had sold all 40 land plots to one person for more than 30 million hryvnias in just four days of the same November. 

Law enforcement officers open a criminal investigation into the fraud, and the entrepreneur goes to court to recover the property and wins. 

The decision of the Commercial Court of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, which was later confirmed by the Central Court of Appeal and the Commercial Court of Cassation of the Supreme Court, was based on expert opinions that established that the second copy of the power of attorney a duplicate of which is referred to in the sale and purchase agreements, is actually forged, as it confirms that a sheet of paper containing the entrepreneur's signatures was used to make such a power of attorney, and the seal of a private notary was affixed to it not at the time of issuance of the power of attorney (03. 02.2016), but during the period of illegal alienation of land plots.

But winning in the Ukrainian courts does not mean that justice is achieved. The "buyer" does not return the land to the entrepreneur. And this is despite the fact that the entrepreneur has already been recognized as an injured party in the criminal proceedings. On May 20 this year, law enforcement officers announced suspicions to realtor Serhiy Lyashkevych and notary Iryna Bikkineeva of fraud on a particularly large scale committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy.

It would seem that everything is clear: there are examinations, court decisions, and suspicions, but the case takes an unexpected turn: Lyashkevich, trying to get out of the case, filed a lawsuit with the Kyiv-Svyatoshinsky District Court to recover UAH 51 million from the businessman. The realtor claims that in August 2018, the man borrowed 31 million hryvnias from him for two months, an amount almost identical to the value of the 40 land plots involved in the story. In a few years, allegedly, penalties and interest accrued, inflationary losses were added, and the amount of the so-called debt increased by 20 million.  

As an argument in his favor, Lyashkevich even shows a promissory note allegedly signed by his former "business partner.

The entrepreneur categorically denies that he borrowed money from the realtor. And the very fact that he signed any promissory note.

The scheme with the receipt is suspiciously similar to the scheme with the fake power of attorney, which resulted in the loss of 40 land plots. However, law enforcement agencies should deal with this issue directly. 

Meanwhile, the man is trying to fend off the realtor's exorbitant financial claims in the courts, whose lawsuit has been referred to the Kharkiv Oblast Economic Court.

The entrepreneur won the first instance again. The court found that in August 2018, Lyashkevich did not have UAH 31 million of his own funds to lend to the entrepreneur. This decision has already been confirmed by the Eastern Economic Court of Appeal. 

Obviously, this is not the end of the story. There will be  more appeals and other attempts to avoid liability on the part of the realtor.

The certain inertia of law enforcement agencies is also surprising, especially since there is clear evidence that the power of attorney for the sale of land plots was forged.  

Moreover, according to UNN , Lyashkevich, despite being a defendant in the criminal proceedings, managed to travel abroad. 

And how he managed to do it is also a question..