Land corruption: NABU uncovers criminal organization in Kyiv City Council during Operation ’Clean City’. VIDEO+PHOTOS

The NABU and the SAPO conducted a large-scale operation "Clean City" to eliminate corruption in the land and budget sphere of Kyiv. The operation uncovered and terminated the activities of a criminal organisation headed by a media-famous former deputy of the Kyiv City Council (hereinafter - the KCC).

According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the NABU press service.

It is noted that one of the key areas of activity of the criminals is the seizure of valuable Kyiv land for construction and taking full control of the procedure for making decisions by local authorities on granting land rights.

Among the suspects:

• ex-deputy of the KCC (Kyiv City Council), head of a criminal organisation;
• Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration (hereinafter - KCSA);
• Chairman and member of the KCC Standing Committee on Architecture, Urban Planning and Land Relations, current KCC deputies;
• first deputy and deputy director of municipal enterprises;
• four other people.

In accordance with Art. 208 of the CPC of Ukraine, 7 members of the criminal organisation were detained. A total of 10 people were served with a notice of suspicion.

How did the suspects act?

According to the investigation, the members of the criminal organization found promising land plots and registered ownership of buildings that never existed on these plots in the names of controlled persons. Later, they submitted applications to the city council to grant them ownership of the land plots for the maintenance of these structures, which allowed them to avoid bidding.

Members of the KCC and officials of the KCSA, some of whom were members of the criminal organisation and some of whom were under its influence, ensured that decisions were made to grant the relevant land rights, for which they received undue benefits in the form of funds and real estate. At the same time, such decisions were under the full control of the members of the criminal organisation: The "right" people received land rights, while the rest faced artificial obstacles and had to turn to the members of the criminal organisation for help.

The leader of the criminal organisation had significant influence on processes within the KCC and KCSA, such as the actions of officials, appointment of loyalists to high positions, dismissal of controlled employees, allocation of budget funds in the interests of the criminal organisation, etc. He also maintained contacts with a wide range of influential people, including deputy heads of the KCSA, deputies, the head of the land commission of the KCCl, and others. The decision-making centre, in particular in the land sector, moved from 36 Khreshchatyk Street to another building, where issues were "resolved" with the participation of city officials and other influential people.

To conceal their activities, the members of the criminal organisation used special mobile terminals, pseudonyms, counter-surveillance and other actions aimed at avoiding responsibility, but this did not prevent the detectives from detecting them.

What did the criminal activity of the suspects lead to?

As a result of the criminal organisation's activities in 2023-2024, land in the city centre worth UAH 11.6 million was illegally withdrawn from the ownership of the Kyiv territorial community, causing losses of this amount.

At the same time, timely actions by law enforcement agencies prevented the seizure of six more land plots in the capital with a total value of UAH 83.7 million.

In addition, an attempt to force a private enterprise to cease its legitimate trade and lease of retail premises in one of the capital's districts through threats and artificial obstacles was exposed, with the aim of seizing the company's land plot for further development.

Also, an offer of an unlawful benefit in the amount of USD 100,000 to a member of the land commission and a deputy of the Kyiv City Council for abusing her powers and influence in the interests of a criminal organisation was recorded.

The investigation is ongoing. Other episodes of criminal activity are being established.