The State Bureau of Investigation reported suspicions to a law enforcement officer and a lawyer who were taking over the apartments of the deceased

Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation announced suspicion of a law enforcement officer and a lawyer who organized a scheme of illegal possession of apartments of deceased persons without heirs. The total value of the real estate they tried to appropriate exceeds 3.6 million hryvnias.

After the death of single citizens who had no heirs, their property was supposed to become the property of the Zaporozhye territorial community. However, the defendants interfered in this process and arranged housing for fictitious persons.

The law enforcement officer received information about the death of such persons using official connections, and the lawyer provided legal support in the courts. The essence of the scheme consisted in inventing fictitious debts of the deceased, forging the relevant documents and applying to the court with a demand to transfer the apartment to account for the “debt”.

Subsequently, the attackers executed fictitious purchase and sale contracts through the commodity exchange, which ceased operations back in 2012. After the “legalization” of ownership, apartments were put up for sale. The investigation has already documented at least five episodes with apartments that were supposed to become the property of the city.

The suspects are charged with fraud, legalization of property obtained by crime, and use of forged documents (Part 4 of Article 190, Part 2 of Article 209, Part 2 of Article 15, Part 3 of Article 15, Part 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Sanctions of the articles provide up to eight years of imprisonment. Procedural management in the case is carried out by the Zaporizhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office.