A scheme for unlawfully acquiring community land plots has been uncovered in Sambir, which, according to the investigation, was organised by a resident of Sambir, a former employee of the Sambir District Production Department of the State Land Cadastre Centre. This was reported under the procedural supervision of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation is establishing that the fraudulent mechanism was aimed at circumventing the ban on free privatisation of land during martial law. Since at present it is only possible to obtain free of charge a plot under an already constructed privately owned house, an artificial appearance of existing property was created in the desired locations.
According to law enforcement, through private entrepreneurs providing services for preparing property documentation, technical passports were drawn up for non-existent residential houses. On the basis of these documents, a state registrar, unaware that they were bogus, entered information into the register on ownership rights to non-existent properties.
Further, according to the investigation, technical land management documentation was prepared, ostensibly for servicing these “houses”, and the compiled package of documents was submitted to Sambir City Council. The City Council adopted decisions approving the land management documentation and transferring the plots into private ownership, after which the state registrar again registered the ownership right, this time to the land.
In this way, over the course of 2024–2025, four land plots with a total area of over 0.34 ha on the outskirts of Sambir were removed from community ownership. According to preliminary estimates, the material damage to Sambir City Council amounts to more than UAH 1.5 million.
The former official has been notified of suspicion of organising the misappropriation of another’s property by deception (fraud), committed under conditions of martial law, on a large scale, by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy (Part 3 of Article 27, Parts 3 and 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). At the request of the prosecution, the disputed plots have been seized.
The Main Department of the National Police in Lviv Region is conducting the pre-trial investigation, with operational support from the Cybercrime Counteraction Department in Lviv Region. Law enforcement officers are identifying other individuals who may be involved in this criminal offence, and will also provide a legal assessment of the actions of the entrepreneurs who prepared the technical documentation.
Pursuant to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and may not be subjected to criminal punishment until his or her guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.