In Zakarpattia Region, an organised group has been uncovered whose members, according to investigators, illegally registered land plots near Uzhhorod and sold them.
This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The legality of the privatisation of more than 100 plots is currently being checked.
It is known that the scheme was organised by two deputies of the Baranyntsi Village Council. They involved a former businessman and a woman who carried out day-to-day errands.
Between 2024 and 2026, the group’s members used forged archival documents and certificates to register land in commercially attractive locations. To do this, they found local residents to whom the village council had transferred land back in the 1990s, but whose ownership rights had not been properly formalised.
On the basis of forged certificates, land-management documentation was produced in the name of a certified engineer without his knowledge. The documents stated false locations for the plots, effectively moving them onto more expensive land. The false information was then entered into the State Land Cadastre; the plots were registered to front persons, split up, merged and sold.
So far, the illegal registration of 10 plots in the village of Velyki Lazy has been documented. The group’s members also attempted to sell about 3 hectares of land at a viewing platform in the Horiany neighbourhood for 270,000 US dollars.
During more than 40 searches, land documentation, computer equipment, cash and other evidence were seized. All four members of the group were detained, with one of the deputies caught while attempting to flee.
The court imposed preventive measures on the suspects in the form of detention with the alternative of bail ranging from 1 to 3 million hryvnias. The прокуратура appealed part of the court decisions regarding the amount of bail.
In addition, according to investigators, one of the deputies instructed his brother to retrieve money from a hiding place, likely obtained from the illegal sale of land, in order to pay 3 million hryvnias in bail on his behalf.
After exchanging currency, the deputy’s brother was detained. More than 2.4 million hryvnias were seized from him, and a further 54,000 US dollars were seized at the exchange office. Cash and a substantial volume of land documentation were also found in the hiding place.
Four members of the group have been notified of suspicion of fraud on an especially large scale, laundering of property obtained by criminal means, and document forgery (Part 5 of Article 190, Parts 2 and 3 of Article 209, Part 3 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The brother of one of the organisers is suspected of laundering property obtained by criminal means on a large scale (Part 2 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The court remanded him in custody with the alternative of bail of more than 2.1 million hryvnias.
The prosecution has filed motions with the court to seize property and return the land plots to the ownership of the community and the state.