Under the procedural supervision of prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, an indictment was sent to court against a private land surveyor and former head of a village council in Lviv region on abuse of office (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The latter is also charged with legalization of the proceeds of crime (Part 1 Article 209 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The investigation established that the defendants implemented an illegal scheme to seize state-owned land that is in permanent use of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences. The plots are located next to the projected part of the Lviv road, which is being built as part of the GoHighway transnational corridor, which is supposed to connect Ukrainian Black Sea ports with Polish ones on the Baltic Sea.
For this purpose, the man, being the head of the village council, illegally increased the boundaries of one of the villages in Lviv region without the approval of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences. In turn, a land surveyor developed a relevant land management project to change these boundaries. The land was transferred from state ownership to communal ownership.
Thus, more than 21 hectares of land were withdrawn from use and assigned cadastral numbers. Subsequently, 4 hectares were transferred to private ownership of individuals, causing the state losses of almost UAH 6 million. In particular, one of the plots was registered in the name of the wife of the accused, who is currently a deputy of one of the local district councils.
Also, thanks to the coordinated work of law enforcement agencies, the transfer of the remaining land plots worth more than UAH 36 million was prevented.
The pre-trial investigation was carried out by detectives of the Territorial Department of the BES in Lviv region with operational support from the SID in Lviv region of the National Police of Ukraine.
Note: in accordance with Art. 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and shall not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proved in accordance with the law and established by a court verdict of guilty.
Information Policy Department
of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office