A resident of the Odesa region was taken into custody in connection with a land fraud scheme involving 18 plots

In the Odesa region, a man was taken into custody on suspicion of attempting to legalize a plot of land that he had acquired using forged documents.

The Kyiv District Court of Odesa issued the corresponding ruling on November 4, 2026.

According to the investigation, to obtain the land, the man used a forged excerpt from an employment record book, which allegedly confirmed his work experience in agriculture. In reality, he had never worked at the company in question.

In January 2020, according to investigators, the man provided his documents to other participants in the scheme to create the forged extract. He subsequently signed an application to the Tsebrykivka Village Council requesting permission to develop a land-use plan to obtain, free of charge, a 5.15-hectare plot of land, which was valued at 224,513 hryvnias.

In February 2020, the village council granted permission to develop land-use planning projects for 18 individuals. In May of that year, the council approved the relevant documentation and transferred ownership of the land plots to the applicants. Each plot had an area of 5.15 hectares.

In September 2020, the state registrar registered ownership of these plots. Investigators claimed that a man received one of them, after which it was used by members of an organized group to generate profit.

In February 2022, according to the investigation, the man decided to transfer the land to the authorized capital of Ukrainian Regional Agency for Horticulture LLC. To do so, he signed the relevant documents and applied to the state registrar. However, due to the start of the full-scale invasion, it was not possible to register ownership of the company.

On October 30, 2026, the man was notified that he was suspected of attempting to launder assets. As a result, he was remanded in custody until December 30, 2026, with the option to post bail in the amount of 133,120 hryvnias.

As reported by Intent, another participant in the land scheme was sentenced in late October. According to the investigation, the man acted on the instructions of other participants in the scheme, who arranged for the land plots to be registered in the names of straw men.<span><span><span><span><span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span>

Анна Літман