Falsified archive documents and the ‘transfer’ of plots: details of the criminal proceedings against two MPs

In Zakarpattia, law enforcement officers uncovered an organised criminal group whose members, according to the investigation, were illegally registering and selling commercially attractive plots of land near Uzhhorod. Investigators and prosecutors are currently examining the legality of the privatisation of over 100 plots of land.

According to investigators, the illegal scheme was organised by two members of the Baraninsky Village Council, who enlisted a former businessman and a female accomplice to carry out the day-to-day tasks involved.

The mechanism behind the falsification and the attempt to sell protected areas

Between 2024 and 2026, the suspects used forged archive records and documents. They identified local residents to whom the village council had allocated land back in the 1990s without properly formalising ownership rights. On the basis of these forgeries, land-survey documentation was drawn up in the name of a certified engineer without his knowledge, whereby the plots were effectively ‘relocated’ to more expensive areas.

Subsequently, false information was entered into the State Land Cadastre, and the land was registered in the names of front men, divided up and sold.

To date, the unlawful registration of 10 plots of land in the village of Velyki Lazy has been documented. Furthermore, members of the group attempted to sell approximately 3 hectares of land near the viewing platform in the Horyany neighbourhood for 270,000 US dollars. During more than 40 searches, documentation, computer equipment and cash were seized. All four suspects were arrested, with one of the councillors being apprehended whilst attempting to flee.

Detention with bail set at millions and procedural status

The court imposed a pre-trial detention order on the suspects, with the option of bail set at between 1 and 3 million hryvnias, part of which the prosecution has already appealed against. In an attempt to secure the organiser’s release, one of the MPs instructed his brother to retrieve the money from a hiding place in order to pay the 3 million hryvnias bail.

After exchanging currency, the brother was arrested: over 2.4 million hryvnias were seized from him, and 54,000 US dollars were found at the currency exchange office. Additional cash and a large number of land documents were also found in a hiding place.

Four members of the group have been charged with fraud on an exceptionally large scale, money laundering and forgery of documents (Article 190(5), Article 209(2) and (3), and Article 358(3) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The organiser’s brother is charged with money laundering (Article 209(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and has been remanded in custody with bail set at over 2.1 million hryvnias. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has submitted a motion to the court for the seizure of assets and the return of land to the community and the state. The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by the Main Directorate of the National Police in Zakarpattia Oblast, with operational support from the State Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

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