Ukrainian authorities have uncovered a fraud scheme involving the double selling of apartments in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, with estimated damages surpassing 175 million UAH. Investigators suspect that a former member of the Dnipro City Council, identified as Oleksandr Leonidovych Turchyn, orchestrated the scheme, although law enforcement has not officially confirmed his identity.
Turchyn allegedly acquired corporate rights to a group of companies that owned several unfinished properties in central Kyiv, including a residential complex in Pechersk. At the time of acquisition, most apartments were already sold to investors, and the property rights to 50 apartments were held by a state bank by court order. Despite this, authorities claim the individuals involved in the scheme managed the property without acknowledging the rights of previous owners.
According to the prosecutor’s office, to facilitate the fraudulent sale of real estate, the likely participants altered technical specifications and utilized documents exhibiting signs of forgery. They also reconfigured the building in such a manner that a planned 27-story structure was transformed into a 32-story one, and changed the legal address, presumably to complicate the identification of the original investors’ rights.
It has been reported that 50 apartments belonging to the state bank were wrongfully transferred, with losses estimated at over 164 million UAH, in addition to the illicit resale of eight more apartments belonging to private individuals. Overall, law enforcement estimates the total damages resulting from these activities to be over 175 million UAH.
Authorities allege that the funds obtained through this scheme were laundered via controlled companies and reinvested into other business ventures. Currently, nine individuals, including the suspected organizer and eight accomplices, have been notified of suspicions against them, facing charges of fraud, money laundering, and the use of forged documents. Measures for preventive detention of the suspects are being considered.
