Law enforcement officers exposed and stopped the activities of a criminal organization led by a well-known former deputy of the Kyiv City Council (KCC). In total, 7 participants in the scheme were detained, including current local government officials. 10 people involved in the case were informed of the suspicion.
This was reported by NABU and SAP, without naming names.
The defendants in the case are suspected of seizing valuable capital land for development and fully influencing the local authoritiesʼ decisions on granting land rights. Thus, during 2023-2024, the defendants illegally took land in the city center worth 11.6 million hryvnias from the property of the territorial community of Kyiv.
Among the suspects:
- former deputy of KCC, head of a criminal organization;
- Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration (KSCA);
- Chairman and member of the KCC Standing Commission on Architecture, Urban Planning and Land Relations;
- current deputies of KCC;
- First Deputy and Deputy Director of Municipal Enterprises;
- four citizens whose positions are not reported by law enforcement agencies.
Law enforcement officers also recorded a bribe of $100 000 to a member of the land commission and a deputy of the Kyiv City Council for abusing their powers and influencing in the interests of a criminal organization.
It was also revealed that the suspects, through threats and artificial obstacles, wanted to force a private enterprise to stop legally trading and renting out commercial premises. The suspects wanted to take possession of the enterpriseʼs land plot for further development.
How the scheme worked
The scheme consisted of the suspects looking for promising land plots and registering ownership rights to non-existent houses allegedly on these territories for fake people. They then submitted applications to the city council to grant them ownership rights to the land plots for servicing these structures — thus avoiding auctions.
The KCC deputies and KCSA officials, some of whom were members of the criminal organization and some of whom were under its influence, influenced positive decisions on such applications. In return, they received bribes in the form of money and real estate.
These decisions were fully controlled by the members of the criminal organization: the "right" people received land rights, while the rest faced artificial obstacles and had to turn to the members of the criminal organization for help.
The head of the criminal organization had a significant influence on processes within the Kyiv Metropolitan Municipality and the Kyiv City State Administration, in particular on the actions of officials, the appointment of loyal individuals to high positions, the dismissal of subordinate employees, and the allocation of budget funds in the interests of the criminal scheme.
He also had connections with deputy heads of the Kyiv City State Administration, deputies, and the head of the Kyiv City Municipal Land Commission. To hide their activities, the suspects used special mobile terminals, pseudonyms, etc.
Thanks to the fact that law enforcement officers exposed the scheme, the defendants did not seize six more land plots in the capital with a total value of 83.7 million hryvnias. These are the results of the operation of NABU and the SAP "Clean City" to eliminate corruption in the land and budget sectors of Kyiv.
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