The Kyiv Court of Appeal has seized the real estate of LLC “Buildings Empire” in a case of large‑scale fraud amounting to more than 9 million euros.
This was reported by “Sudebny Reporter” with reference to court decisions.
A non‑residential building with an area of 853.5 square meters in Kyiv at 15 Borysohlibska Street, letter B, has been seized, as well as six non‑residential premises totaling 4,214.8 square meters on 73‑C Lomonosova Street.
The beneficiary of “Buildings Empire” through the Hong Kong company “Renity Estate Limited” (RENITY ESTATE LIMITED) is Igor Rokhlin, the father of the investor in the Ukrainian delivery service Rocket, Timur Rokhlin.
According to the prosecutor in court hearings, on November 4, 2021, Timur Rokhlin was formally notified of suspicion.
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The authorized capital of “Buildings Empire” is about 96 million hryvnias. Investigators believe that the actual owner is Timur, not his father. According to the investigation, when purchasing the real estate, funds obtained by fraudulent means as part of a criminal organization from European citizens were used. The premises have been recognized as material evidence in the case.
In early October, when Rokhlin had not yet been a suspect, the Pechersky Court refused to seize the real estate, but the prosecutor’s office won on appeal. The court decisions contain information that the suspect purchased luxury cars worth about 24 million hryvnias and real estate on the territory of Ukraine in 2017‑2020, and also formed authorized capitals in enterprises where he and his father are the ultimate beneficial owners. Movable and immovable property is registered to such enterprises.
When examining account statements of the suspect at PJSC CB “PrivatBank” for the period from January 1, 2017 to August 18, 2020, operations were identified for depositing cash via bank cash desks and terminals totaling 69 million hryvnias, 1.7 million dollars, 741 thousand dollars and 500 thousand euros.
Law enforcement authorities believe that the funds of defrauded foreign citizens could have been legalized in Ukraine under the guise of acquiring movable and immovable property, as well as enterprises.
According to the investigation, in 2016 Ukrainian citizens created a stable hierarchical association for joint activity with the aim of committing serious or especially serious crimes. It concerned fraudulently acquiring the funds of foreigners in especially large amounts using electronic computing equipment, with subsequent legalization. The attraction of funds was carried out through specially created websites and trading platforms that allegedly allowed profit from trading on the stock market with various financial instruments.
To deceive investors, members of the criminal organization imitated the execution of transactions for buying and selling assets and a fictitious significant growth in profit from invested funds through the program interface of the sites. After that, for those who invested funds and filed a request to withdraw cash, employees of specially created call centers, posing as representatives of trading platforms, called and fraudulently demanded additional funds equal to 15 percent of the purported profit as a service fee and commission for cashing out.
Subsequently, investors’ accounts were blocked, and the funds placed in them were appropriated by members of the criminal group. In total, the amount was 9.36 million euros, which, when converted to the national currency at the beginning of 2021, amounted to 325 million hryvnias.
The scheme is being investigated by law enforcement agencies of the Federal Republic of Germany. In Ukraine, the first suspicions were announced in March 2021 — against Igor Kozlenko and Yuri Kopachevsky. They were placed in custody with bail set at 325 million hryvnias, later reduced to 145 million.
In June, a third suspect appeared. On October 3, Michael Chebotar was detained and notified of suspicion; the court placed him under around‑the‑clock house arrest. On November 4, Rokhlin was notified of suspicion.
