A former MP is suspected of illegally acquiring state lands worth nearly 300 million UAH.

A former member of parliament and head of the agricultural committee of the Verkhovna Rada is suspected of misappropriating state lands.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine reports this information.

The investigation believes that the deputy organized a scheme for the alienation of land from state ownership. Officials from the State Geocadastre and individuals who oversaw the activities of these bodies are also considered involved in the scheme.

The scheme involved destroying documents certifying state enterprises' rights to permanent land use. Subsequently, the regional State Geocadastre would create acts regarding the unauthorized occupation of these plots.

These lands were then transferred to pre-selected citizens under the guise of exercising the right to free land. However, a condition for receiving the plot was signing a contract for leasing the land to a private agricultural holding.

The scheme operated from 2017 to 2021. During this period, the participants managed to acquire 1,250 plots with a total area of 2,493 hectares. The land's value was estimated at 291 million UAH. Furthermore, the participants allegedly attempted to appropriate an additional 3,282 hectares of land worth 190 million UAH. The NABU notes that this attempt failed due to the intervention of law enforcement and the seizure of assets.

Background. Earlier, Mind reported that ARMA discovered assets belonging to former officials that caused the state losses of 1.5 billion UAH. The identified assets have been transferred to law enforcement for seizure and further management by ARMA.