Kherson police uncover ₴17M land seizure scheme involving ex-Geocadastre employee

In Kherson region, police exposed a group of people who seized state land worth more than UAH 17 million. The scheme was organized by a former employee of the State Geocadastre in Kherson region.

According to the Kherson regional police, last summer a group of Kherson residents implemented a scheme to seize land plots belonging to the Tyahyn village council. As a result, more than 300 hectares of agricultural land were illegally re-registered. Despite the ongoing hostilities in the region, the land was illegally re-registered.

According to Mykola Verbytskyi, deputy head of the regional police headquarters, the scheme to seize the land was developed by a former 44-year-old employee of the State Geocadastre in Kherson region and a 43-year-old resident of Kherson, involving a 48-year-old resident of Antonivka in the realization of their intent.

Photo: Kherson regional police

"The defendants produced a package of forged documents necessary for re-registration. On a pre-arranged date, another 30-year-old participant in the scam brought the "documents" to one of the ASCs, where they illegally re-registered ownership of five land plots with a total area of more than 300 hectares," the police officer said.

Both organizers and their 30-year-old accomplice were detained. They have now been served a notice of suspicion of fraud, forgery of documents, seals, stamps and forms, sale or use of forged documents, seals, stamps. The pre-trial investigation is ongoing. The detainees may face imprisonment for a term of five to twelve years with confiscation of property.

Earlier, with the intervention of the prosecutor's office, 80 hectares of land worth almost UAH 2 million were returned to the community of Kherson . One of the companies leased the land for production activities related to landscaping in Kherson and the region. However, contrary to the current legislation and the terms of the agreement, the lessee did not pay the rent during 2022-2024, owing money to the local budget.

Kherson prosecutors also defended in court the state's right to forest land plots with a total area of more than 42 hectares. And the Oleshky District Prosecutor's Office ordered the local government to organize the work on the in-kind delineation of the natural reserve fund object - theSofiyivsky Botanical Reserve of local importance.

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