Former judge detained on suspicion of appropriating apartments of deceased Odesa residents

Detectives of the State Bureau of Investigation detained a former judge and two other people on suspicion of appropriating apartments of deceased Odesa residents who had no heirs.

According to the SBI press service, according to the law, the real estate was supposed to be transferred to the city, but with the help of a judge of one of the district courts of Odesa region, the apartments were appropriated by fraudsters.

According to the investigation, the enrichment scheme was organized by a restaurateur couple who, through their friends, received information about the availability of apartments whose owners had died. Then, through fictitious persons, they executed fake real estate purchase and sale agreements, dated retroactively and not even certified by a notary. The suspects then filed civil lawsuits to recognize their ownership of the apartments.

To successfully legalize the transaction, the suspects engaged a judge of one of the district courts of Odesa region. The judge did not pay attention to the fictitiousness of the agreements and the absence of the participants in the trial at the hearing.He issued court decisions to recognize the ownership of these apartments.

Based on the court decisions, the ownership was registered in the State Register of Real Property Rights. Thus, the fraudsters managed to re-register three apartments worth almost UAH 3 million. The properties have now been seized to prevent their sale during the pre-trial investigation.

The judge was dismissed by the decision of the High Council of Justice and served a notice of suspicion of issuing a knowingly false official document by an official and aiding and abetting the acquisition of the right to another's property by fraud committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons on a particularly large scale.

The organizers of the scheme are suspected of fraud and forgery. The couple are also accused of misappropriation of six apartments in another criminal proceeding. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint for the participants of the scheme is being decided. The sanction of the articles provides for a sentence of up to 8 years in prison.

Кирило Бойко