Law enforcement officers exposed a gang that was appropriating citizens’ real estate in Vinnytsia region

Law enforcement officers in Vinnytsia region stopped the activity of an organized criminal group that was seizing citizens’ real estate.

This was reported by the press service of the National Police.

According to the investigation, the perpetrators forced the victims to sign documents transferring ownership of real estate.

"The organizer of the scheme and four executors, one of whom was a boxing master of sports, set up a scheme for the illegal appropriation of real estate in Vinnytsia region in 2021," the police noted.

It is also noted that the gang members applied physical and psychological pressure to the victims and their families, restricted their freedom of movement, stole passports, inflicted bodily harm, and damaged property to force them to sign the necessary documents.

"Illegally re-registered apartments and land plots were sold by the figures. An exception was the house of one of the victims, where the leader of the group settled," the report says.

The investigation identified seven people who were victims of the group’s criminal acts. Several group members were detained by law enforcement in the apartment of one of the victims.

The defendants were charged under several articles of the Criminal Code and preventive measures were taken. They face up to 12 years of imprisonment.

Currently, four of the offenders have been remanded in custody by the court. Another group member was assigned a preventive measure in the form of night-time house arrest.