A fraudulent land-sale scheme in the Carpathians was uncovered in Lviv Oblast
Law enforcement officials uncovered the illegal appropriation and sale of a 2-hectare plot of land in the resort village of Verkhne Synyovydne, Skole Community, which was communal property.
The mastermind behind the scheme was a Lviv resident who, using a forged order from the State Geocadastre and with the assistance of a state registrar, illegally registered ownership of the land, valued at nearly 5 million hryvnias.
According to the investigation, in 2024, the suspect used forged documents claiming the transfer of a plot in the coastal zone to him for farming purposes, and the state registrar entered the data into the registry without conducting the required verification of its authenticity. As early as March of the following year, the man sold this land for 173,000 UAH—27 times less than its actual market value—with the aim of legalizing the property. Currently, the plot has been returned to the Skole City Council; an indictment against the Lviv resident on charges of fraud and money laundering has been filed with the court; and in June, the registrar was charged with unauthorized alteration of information in automated systems.
This was reported by the SBU.
Earlier, three officials from the forestry sector in the Kherson region were notified that they were suspected of illegally cutting down more than 2,200 trees on the territory of the Velykooleksandrivka Forestry.
The prosecutor’s officeprevented the destruction of 20 plots of century-old forest near Bukovel.
