State Audit Service exposes large-scale land fraud by former minister in Sumy region
20 January 14:47
During a pre-trial investigation conducted by NABU and SAP, specialists from the State Audit Service of Ukraine helped expose a fraudulent land scheme in Sumy region involving a former minister and the criminal group he headed. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to DASU.
According to the investigation, the deal allowed for the illegal acquisition of approximately 2,500 hectares of state-owned land with a total value of over UAH 280 million.
During the pre-trial investigation, auditors from the State Audit Service analyzed financial and land transactions, which helped detectives and prosecutors reconstruct the full picture of the crime and document its consequences for the state.
How the scheme worked
According to the investigation, in 2017, the owner of a number of agricultural companies, who later became a member of parliament of the IX convocation and headed the agricultural committee of the Verkhovna Rada, organized a criminal conspiracy with the then leadership of the State Geocadastre and the so-called curators of regional divisions.
The first step was to destroy the land permits of two state-owned enterprises in the Sumy region. After that, the regional State Geocadastre, citing the lack of documentation, drew up an act of “unauthorized occupation” of land by these state-owned enterprises.
Auctions without results and “free” land
Formally, the plots were to be put up for land auction, but the auctions never took place. Instead, through controlled officials, the land was transferred to interested individuals under the guise of exercising the right to receive plots free of charge.
The key condition was the mandatory signing of lease agreements with a specific private agricultural holding. Thus, the land actually ended up under the control of a business structure associated with the organizers of the scheme.
The scale of the deal
The scheme operated in several stages between 2017 and 2021. During this time:
- 1,250 land plots with a total area of about 2,500 hectares were seized;
- preparations were made in parallel for the illegal seizure of another 3,200 hectares of state-owned land.
Thanks to the work of auditors, detectives, and prosecutors, these plans were stopped.
Suspicions and trial
On April 23, 2024, NABU and SAPO announced that 13 members of the criminal group were under suspicion, including a former member of parliament and former minister of agricultural policy and food.
The pre-trial investigation has now been completed, and the indictment has been sent to court, where the actions of all those involved will be legally assessed.
The DASU does not name names, but it is clear from the text of the report that it is referring to Mykola Solsky.
