A massive construction scam worth 35 million hryvnias was uncovered in Bucha
In Bucha, law enforcement officials uncovered a cynical scheme to embezzle funds under the guise of housing construction.
This was reported by Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
Leaders of local housing and construction cooperatives defrauded dozens of people, including war veterans and internally displaced persons who had lost their homes.
Under the procedural guidance of the Bucha District Prosecutor’s Office, two organizers of the scheme have already been notified of their status as suspects.
The perpetrators manipulated the trust of citizens who were trying to start a new life in a city recovering from occupation.
The scheme was carefully planned: the suspects “offered to invest in the alleged construction of high-rise buildings.”
To create the illusion of reliability, they showed clients fake documents and signed official contracts for equity participation.
The organizers skillfully “created a sense of legitimacy” for the process, causing people to invest hundreds of thousands of hryvnias without hesitation.
Most of the victims gave away their last savings, hoping to finally have a roof over their heads.
Currently, the investigation has “identified 66 victims” whose funds were brazenly embezzled by the cooperatives’ leadership. The total amount of confirmed losses currently stands at over 35.5 million hryvnias, though the number of victims may rise.
The outcome of the fraudsters’ activities proved disappointing for investors: they never received “a single home.” The projects remain unfinished, have not been commissioned, and construction work on the sites has effectively ceased.
According to 2025 statistics, approximately 80% of online fraud cases in Ukraine involve schemes to manipulate clients, while only up to 20% consist of classic crimes involving unauthorized access to accounts—such as hacking or the physical theft of bank cards.
Recently in Kyiv, scammers swindled a 74-year-old pensioner out of over 1.4 million hryvnias in various currencies, under the pretext of a security service investigation into ties to an aggressor country.
