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Kyiv real estate scam
Kyiv (Kiev, Ukraina) real estate scam -- BEWARE!
Kyiv: Real estate scam organizer flees country
Police have arrested the accountant of a firm accused of conducting a
real estate scam in the capital city, but the company's owner has fled
the country.
The "Elita Tsentr" limited liability company stands accused of
scamming thousands of Kyiv residents as well as a construction
company. Criminal charges have been laid. At issue is a multi-story
building in Kyiv's city center with residential and office space. The
investigation found that the Elita Tsentr sold the same apartments to
more than one buyer. The construction company working on the building
also incurred losses as it purchased materials on credit. Authorities
would not name the man who fled the country with some 80 million
dollars. Kyiv city police chief Vitaly Yarema would only say that the
man had both Ukrainian and Russian passports, and that he likely fled
to Russia.
March 3, 2006
Taking it to The Streets: Massive Real Estate Fraud Reported in The Ukraine
According to the Associated Press, 8,000 Ukrainians demonstrated
yesterday in that country's capital demanding an investigation into a
massive real estate fraud scheme:
Thousands of Ukrainians bought new apartments in Kyiv that were
secretly being sold to multiple buyers and never completed. Police
have estimated that some 1,500 people might have fallen victim to the
scam, losing an equivalent of US$79 million (-67 million). The owners
of the company accused of fraud, Elita-Tsentr, have fled the country
and have been put on the international wanted list, Ukrainian media
reported.
Protesters gathered outside the Kyiv city council. In February,
President Viktor Yushchenko ordered his government to help sort out
the scandal. The scam occurred as real estate prices in the Ukrainian
capital shot up, leaving many buyers desperate for a deal. Buyers were
offered lower prices if they purchased yet-unbuilt apartments.
Problems emerged earlier this year when buyers discovered that their
apartments had been sold to others and that construction was behind
schedule.
While police estimate that 1,500 people fell victim to the scam,
nearly five-times that many (a whopping 8,000 citizens) participated
in yesterday's demonstration. Imagine if four to five of your closest
friends and neighbors chose to stand by your side to protest crimes
committed against you and your family here in the U.S. Talk about
community support. If we had that sort of a citizenry here, we'd be
able to wipe out real estate and mortgage fraud literally overnight.
Neighbors would be looking out for one another in ways we've never
seen before, while the fraudsters, scammers, and bad guys would be
identified, prosecuted and publicly humiliated.
Anyone want to rally?
Massive real estate scam uncovered in Ukraine's capital
by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau
KYIV - A massive real estate scam that snared thousands of Kyiv
apartment investors has unraveled in recent weeks, causing public
outrage and revealing the instability of Ukraine's precarious
investment climate.
With the hope of obtaining a brand new apartment, average Ukrainians
invested most, if not all, of their savings with Elite-Center, a real
estate development company that claimed to have been working on seven
simultaneous construction projects in Kyiv.
Instead, Elite-Center's business partners conducted construction at
one site while collecting money for others, in some cases selling the
same apartment as many as five times over to five different buyers.
Once the victims became aware of the scandal, the swindlers fled
Ukraine some time in late January, taking with them a stunning $78
million they had collected.
One of the partners, Oleksander Volkonskyi, was a Russian citizen with
an Israeli passport, according to Ukrayina Moloda, a leading daily
newspaper in Ukraine that broke the story.
The current whereabouts of Mr. Volkonskyi and his partner, Kyiv
resident Oleh Shestak, are unknown. Minister of Internal Affairs Yurii
Lutsenko confirmed that the funds had been embezzled months earlier
and the suspects were abroad.
Kyiv: Real estate scam organizer flees country
Police have arrested the accountant of a firm accused of conducting a
real estate scam in the capital city, but the company's owner has fled
the country.
The "Elita Tsentr" limited liability company stands accused of
scamming thousands of Kyiv residents as well as a construction
company. Criminal charges have been laid. At issue is a multi-story
building in Kyiv's city center with residential and office space. The
investigation found that the Elita Tsentr sold the same apartments to
more than one buyer. The construction company working on the building
also incurred losses as it purchased materials on credit. Authorities
would not name the man who fled the country with some 80 million
dollars. Kyiv city police chief Vitaly Yarema would only say that the
man had both Ukrainian and Russian passports, and that he likely fled
to Russia.
March 3, 2006
Taking it to The Streets: Massive Real Estate Fraud Reported in The Ukraine
According to the Associated Press, 8,000 Ukrainians demonstrated
yesterday in that country's capital demanding an investigation into a
massive real estate fraud scheme:
Thousands of Ukrainians bought new apartments in Kyiv that were
secretly being sold to multiple buyers and never completed. Police
have estimated that some 1,500 people might have fallen victim to the
scam, losing an equivalent of US$79 million (-67 million). The owners
of the company accused of fraud, Elita-Tsentr, have fled the country
and have been put on the international wanted list, Ukrainian media
reported.
Protesters gathered outside the Kyiv city council. In February,
President Viktor Yushchenko ordered his government to help sort out
the scandal. The scam occurred as real estate prices in the Ukrainian
capital shot up, leaving many buyers desperate for a deal. Buyers were
offered lower prices if they purchased yet-unbuilt apartments.
Problems emerged earlier this year when buyers discovered that their
apartments had been sold to others and that construction was behind
schedule.
While police estimate that 1,500 people fell victim to the scam,
nearly five-times that many (a whopping 8,000 citizens) participated
in yesterday's demonstration. Imagine if four to five of your closest
friends and neighbors chose to stand by your side to protest crimes
committed against you and your family here in the U.S. Talk about
community support. If we had that sort of a citizenry here, we'd be
able to wipe out real estate and mortgage fraud literally overnight.
Neighbors would be looking out for one another in ways we've never
seen before, while the fraudsters, scammers, and bad guys would be
identified, prosecuted and publicly humiliated.
Anyone want to rally?
Massive real estate scam uncovered in Ukraine's capital
by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau
KYIV - A massive real estate scam that snared thousands of Kyiv
apartment investors has unraveled in recent weeks, causing public
outrage and revealing the instability of Ukraine's precarious
investment climate.
With the hope of obtaining a brand new apartment, average Ukrainians
invested most, if not all, of their savings with Elite-Center, a real
estate development company that claimed to have been working on seven
simultaneous construction projects in Kyiv.
Instead, Elite-Center's business partners conducted construction at
one site while collecting money for others, in some cases selling the
same apartment as many as five times over to five different buyers.
Once the victims became aware of the scandal, the swindlers fled
Ukraine some time in late January, taking with them a stunning $78
million they had collected.
One of the partners, Oleksander Volkonskyi, was a Russian citizen with
an Israeli passport, according to Ukrayina Moloda, a leading daily
newspaper in Ukraine that broke the story.
The current whereabouts of Mr. Volkonskyi and his partner, Kyiv
resident Oleh Shestak, are unknown. Minister of Internal Affairs Yurii
Lutsenko confirmed that the funds had been embezzled months earlier
and the suspects were abroad.
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