In Odesa, a man was sentenced for legalizing land he had appropriated from the community

In Odesa, a court convicted a man who acquired land using forged documents and later attempted to transfer the plot to the authorized capital of a private company. The land in question is located in the Tsebrykivska community of the Rozdilnyanskyi district and was valued at over 224,000 hryvnias.

The Kyiv District Court of Odesa handed down the verdict on October 16, 2026.

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.

To obtain the land, the man provided copies of his documents, which were used to create a forged excerpt from his employment record book. It stated that he had allegedly worked as a tractor operator at Vassama-Shiryayevo LLC from August 2018 to February 2019. In reality, he had no such work experience.

In February 2020, the man submitted an application to the Tsebrikivka Village Council requesting a 5.15-hectare plot of land for farming. He attached a forged document to the application, which was intended to confirm his work experience in agriculture. In May, the village council approved the land-use plan and transferred ownership of the plot to the man. In total, 18 land plots, each measuring 5.15 hectares, were registered under this scheme.

In September, the state registrar registered the man’s ownership of the land. According to the court’s findings, this caused the community financial damage amounting to 224,000 hryvnias.

In February 2022, the man decided to transfer the land to the authorized capital of Ukrainian Regional Agency for Horticulture LLC, which, according to the case file, was controlled by the organizers of the scheme. However, the transfer could not be completed: due to the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, the State Register of Real Rights was blocked, and the plot was seized.

In court, the man fully admitted his guilt and expressed remorse. The court found him guilty of attempting to launder property obtained by criminal means, as part of a premeditated conspiracy by a group of individuals.

He was sentenced to five years in prison but was granted a one-year probationary period. 

Анна Літман