The activities of “black realtors” have been stopped in Kerch

According to information available to law enforcement agencies, since 2019, the fraudsters have been implementing their criminal scheme, the essence of which was to search for elderly single people, or people who abuse alcohol or have mental disorders, who own real estate, including shared ownership. After which the attackers promised to replace the dilapidated housing with a newer one, or to pay off existing debts for utilities. Having received consent to the right to resell the apartment on behalf of the owner, the attackers evicted the owners to their existing room in the dormitory, where they deliberately created conditions of moral and physical pressure, and also supplied a large amount of alcohol-containing products. As a result, the victims, while intoxicated, signed the proposed documents for the sale of their housing, or existing shares in the apartment, — the details of the case were announced by the press service of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in Crimea.

Thus, the real estate was rewritten to the defendants themselves or to persons under their control, and was subsequently sold. The suspects spent the proceeds on personal needs.

Currently, the damage from the sale of 7 real estate cases amounted to more than 20,600,000 rubles.

The sale of another apartment was not completed due to the fact that the police stopped the criminal activity of the perpetrators.

The police identified the suspects and, with the forceful support of the special unit of the Russian Guard, detained them. They turned out to be two previously convicted local residents, born in 1981 and 1986, who organized fraudulent activities in the real estate sector.

As a result of search operations at the perpetrators’ residences, a large number of documents were seized, and alcohol-containing liquid was found and seized. An examination showed that the liquid contained hazardous substances.

Investigators from the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Kerch have opened criminal cases on the grounds of a crime under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud resulting in the deprivation of a citizen’s right to residential premises).

Both defendants were remanded in custody.

The preliminary investigation is ongoing. An inspection is underway on another 112 properties.

source: press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Crimea