The lawyer wanted to transfer ownership of luxury apartments to himself — The SBI stopped a scheme worth tens of millions in Kyiv

The uncovering of organized criminal groups involving individuals under investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation is one of the important areas of the Bureau’s work. Particular attention is being paid to schemes in which suspects attempt to illegally appropriate state or private property through the use of forged documents and the abuse of their professional status.

The employees of the SBI have complited investigation into a criminal case involving an organized group from Kyiv that attempted to seize luxury apartments belonging to private citizens.

The indictment against the group members has been sent to the court.

According to the investigation, the scheme was organized by a lawyer who had previously represented the interests of a married couple—the owners of two apartments in the capital. While working for them, he obtained copies of their passports and property documents, and later decided to use this data for his own gain.

He enlisted his assistant and another accomplice to carry out the plan. The group members forged powers of attorney in the owners’ names, granting one of the suspects the authority to dispose of the actual owners’ property. The perpetrators also enlisted individuals who posed as the real owners during notarial proceedings.

The forged documents were submitted to a private notary, who was unaware of the criminal nature of the actions and certified the power of attorney.

The perpetrators then added the apartments as an asset to the authorized capital of a company under their control and transferred the title to the property.

The properties in question have a total area of over 320 square meters and are located in prestigious neighborhoods of Kyiv—Pechersk and Osokorky. The properties are valued at tens of millions of hryvnias.

The SBI employees stopped the scheme and prevented it from being carried out. The victims have already been compensated approximately UAH 25 million.

The suspects are charged, among other things, with fraud, forgery of documents, money laundering, and the creation of shell companies (Part 3 of Article 27, Part 3 of Article 358, Part 3 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 358, Part 2 of Article 205-1, Part 4 of Article 190, and Part 3 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The sanctions of the article provide for up to 12 years of imprisonment.

The case files regarding some of the suspects have been devided into separate criminal proceedings.

The procedural guidance is provided by the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office.