The Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office has reported suspicions against a criminal group of land fraudsters.

The organizer and two accomplices are charged with fraud in especially large amounts, legalization of property obtained by criminal means, as well as forgery of documents (parts 4, 5 of Article 190, part 3 of Article 209, parts 3, 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

One of the accomplices is a private notary from Odesa.

During the investigation, it was established that from 2022 to 2024, the perpetrators repeatedly implemented a criminal scheme aimed at the illegal registration of land plots in Odesa as private property.

Under the leadership of a 55-year-old organizer, two women sought out undeveloped land plots without official owners. They produced forged documents establishing rights to the land.

The scheme involved four more individuals. They exploited the fact of the death of relatives, on behalf of whom these fraudsters submitted previously forged land documents to notaries, allegedly found among the deceased's personal belongings. Based on these documents, they illegally registered inheritance and acquired ownership rights to the land plots.

In one of the episodes, the suspect acted independently as the executor, using the fact of the death of a close relative.

They repeatedly re-registered the land plots to controlled individuals and legal entities to conceal their true origin, and subdivided such plots.

After completing all necessary procedures, the suspects planned to sell the land to unsuspecting buyers.

As a result of their illegal actions, ownership rights were established for 5 land plots in the Primorsky and Khadyjibey districts of Odesa, with a total area of nearly 1.3 hectares.

The territorial community suffered damages exceeding 75 million UAH.

The prosecutor's office has applied to the court for the imposition of a preventive measure in the form of detention for the members of the group.

The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings is being conducted by the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Odesa region.

Note: According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a court verdict.