A verdict was passed in the case of a group of so-called tenement hunters

Penalties ranging from 3 years and 5 months to 6 years and 5 months were imposed by the District Court in Łódź against the three main defendants in the trial of a group of “tenement house hunters” who extorted real estate. The indictment in this case was read before the court in Łódź in January 2018.

On Thursday, the District Court in Łódź sentenced Zbigniew Ł. to 6 years and 5 months in prison, PLN 175,000. PLN fine (700 daily rates of PLN 250 each) and forfeiture of PLN 825,000. PLN of property obtained illegally. Two other defendants – Marek S. and Marcin K. were sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison and 3 years and 5 months in prison, respectively.

Justifying the sentence, judge Izabela Kowalska said: “We are undoubtedly dealing with a criminal group that aimed to extort real estate.” It was about activities in an organized criminal group in order to obtain financial benefits, which were supposed to lead the courts to issue judgments to the detriment of the real heirs.

The judge pointed out that the group members had divided roles – Zbigniew Ł. led the group, Marek S. forged wills and matched people and documents, and Marcin K. dealt with the legal aspects of the entire project.

The indictment covered actions taken in relation to tenement houses on the street Zachodnia 55/57, Wróblewskiego 56, Srebrzyńska 7, Wojska Polskiego 88, Sienkiewicza 27, Narutowicza 42 and Legionów 68 in Łódź.

The group managed to take over the ownership of the latter tenement house, and the defendants even filed a lawsuit against the Łódź commune, demanding the return of benefits obtained as a result of the previous management of the property and compensation for alleged irregularities in the management, including: on not taking steps to evict tenants.

According to the court, a criminal group carried out complex forgeries, and “by planting documents in the state archives, the defendants already eliminated the possibility of their verification.”

According to information from the prosecutor's office, the defendants tried to make the forged wills look similar to documents from several decades ago.

In several cases, the prepared wills were to be replaced with the original ones in the state archivesand the defendants later downloaded copies of the forged documents planted in the archives and presented them as true, among others. before courts in Łódź, Łask and Końskie. This was confirmed by the court when it read the guilty verdict.

The defendants also allegedly planted letters allegedly from the testator in one of the real estate administration offices in Łódź in order to hide the truth in case of any doubts and ordering graphological tests.

The trial against a criminal group trying to take over shares in tenement houses in Łódź on the basis of forged wills was conducted in public. The judgment is not final. (PAP)

jus/jann/