Housing construction scam for military personnel: fraudsters extorted over $2 million from developer
Kyiv • UNN
Law enforcement officers exposed a group of fraudsters who extorted over $2 million from a developer under the guise of arranging land for housing construction for military personnel. Two lawyers and their accomplice promised to arrange a plot in Lviv but provided forged documents.
In Ukraine, a scam involving the construction of housing for military personnel was exposed - law enforcement officers liquidated a group of fraudsters who extorted over $2 million from a developer, UNN reports with reference to the National Police.
Details
According to law enforcement, two lawyers from Ternopil region and their accomplice offered an acquaintance to arrange the allocation of land for a new building, which was in the use of a military unit. It was assumed that a significant number of apartments in the building would be transferred to the families of servicemen. However, the documents for the land plot were never formalized, and the money "settled" in the pockets of the fraudsters.
The criminal scheme was exposed by operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department and investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office, together with operatives of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Ternopil region and with the силової support of special units of Ternopil and Kyiv regions.
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The criminal police established that two lawyers - a father and a son - made a "profitable" offer to an entrepreneur: they would formalize documents for a land plot of a military unit in Lviv, and he would build an apartment building there. The attackers informed the developer that more than $2 million was needed to settle legal issues.
The victim transferred the funds to his "partners" in cash in several stages, and in return received knowingly forged documents.
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The police conducted 8 searches at the places of residence of the attackers in Ternopil region and Kyiv. Documentation, mobile phones, and cars were seized.
Investigators of the National Police announced suspicion to the defendants of committing fraud on a particularly large scale (Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). They face up to 12 years in prison.
The court chose a preventive measure for the suspects - detention with the right to post bail, which amounted to over 60 million hryvnias for each.