Corruption

Kyiv exposes organized crime group headed by high-ranking official involved in land deals (video)

Employees of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine have exposed a mechanism for seizing land from the Kyiv community as part of Operation Clean City. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to the official Telegram channel of the agency.

Behind the deal was a criminal organization headed by a media-famous former deputy of the Kyiv City Council, which included top officials, deputies and others.

Its members used the so-called “toilet scheme,” which involved finding attractive land plots and registering ownership of buildings in the names of controlled persons, which in many cases never existed on these plots. This allowed them to obtain priority ownership of the land under these ghost buildings.

Each participant in the crime performed a clearly assigned role to make the scheme work like clockwork, and an attractive piece of Kyiv land fell under the control of its organizer.

The scheme of seizing community land in the capital: what details are known about it

In 2023, when identifying key priorities within the Kyiv City State Administration, it was decided to focus efforts on exposing the so-called “watchdogs” and schemes in the land sector.

As the NABU later found out, an organized criminal group led by a former member of the Kyiv City Council was engaged in the illegal acquisition of land plots in Kyiv. After the 2019 elections, the head of the organized group gained influence on a number of processes – on deputies and officials of the Kyiv City State Administration.

This allowed him to agree on a list of draft decisions of the Kyiv City Council that were to be submitted for consideration or blocked.

According to the NABU, in 2023-2024, the group illegally seized land plots worth more than UAH 11 million and tried to appropriate 6 more land plots worth more than UAH 83 million. In the best traditions of a criminal organization, its members used special means of communication, pseudonyms and counter-surveillance to conceal their activities.

The head of the criminal organization is currently wanted. Pre-trial restraint in the form of custody with an alternative to bail was chosen for the active members of the organized crime group:

• a member of the land commission of the Kyiv City Council – UAH 50 million
• deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration – UAH 15 million;
• head of the Land Commission of the Kyiv City Council – UAH 20 million;
• deputy Director of the municipal enterprise Kyivblagoustrii – UAH 7.5 million;
• first Deputy Director of the municipal enterprise “Spetszhilofond” – UAH 4.5 million.

The NABU added that the published information is only a small part of what was obtained during the development of the criminal organization. The land sector was only one of the areas of interest to their members.