In Sevastopol, a developer promised to build a house, took money from citizens… The house was not built, the money was stolen, there was a trial

CrimeaPRESS reports:

The Sevastopol City Court agreed with the position of the prosecutor’s office of the city of Sevastopol and upheld the conviction in a criminal case of theft of citizens’ funds under the pretext of participation in the construction of apartment buildings.

Previously, by the verdict of the Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol dated June 2, 2023, a local resident born in 1980 was found guilty under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale).

It was established that the man, from January 2017 to February 2021, took possession of the funds of nine residents of Sevastopol and the Republic of Crimea for a total amount of 8.7 million rubles under the pretext of participating in the construction of apartment buildings. To create the appearance of real activity, having access to three plots of land in the gardening partnerships “Dergachi-3”, “Yablonya” and on the street. General Simonov in Sevastopol, he began construction work, prepared preliminary designs and floor plans for apartment buildings. He also opened four offices in the Leninsky district of Sevastopol, selected staff and organized advertising for the sale of apartments at a low price in buildings under construction. The man entered into preliminary agreements for the purchase and sale of residential premises with the victims and received money from them, but in reality did not plan to complete the construction. The land plots did not belong to him. They were intended for gardening or individual housing construction, and therefore the construction of apartment buildings on them is prohibited. The man did not return the money to the citizens, the details of the case were announced in the press service of the Sevastopol prosecutor’s office.

The investigation of the criminal case was carried out by the investigative department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Sevastopol. During the investigation, the property of the accused was seized.

The Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol sentenced the perpetrator to 4 years of imprisonment in a general regime correctional colony.

In addition, the court satisfied the civil claims of the victims, supported by the state prosecutor, for a total amount of 4.7 million rubles. The remaining part of the damage was compensated during the preliminary investigation or recovered by the court earlier in civil law.

The convict and his lawyer appealed the verdict of the first instance court, insisting on acquittal or a more lenient punishment, but the Sevastopol City Court agreed with the arguments of the state prosecutor about the legality and validity of the court decision and rejected the appeal.

The court’s verdict entered into legal force.

It should be noted that the same district court is currently considering two more criminal cases accusing the same person of committing 87 similar crimes, which in total caused damage in the amount of over 90 million rubles,” the Sevastopol prosecutor’s office emphasizes.

source: press service of the Sevastopol prosecutor’s office

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