Police detain four suspects in land scam in Listvyanka

Police have detained four suspects in a land plot scam in the settlement of Listvyanka on the coast of Lake Baikal. This was reported on the Telegram channel of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Irkutsk Region.

According to the MVD, a 41-year-old man, along with three accomplices—a cadastral engineer, a real estate specialist, and a «buyer» aged 27, 35, and 44—submitted a boundary plan with falsified coordinates to Rosreestr. To do this, they purchased land on the outskirts of Listvyanka and replaced the data in the documents with information about a plot located in the center of the settlement near the lake shore. As a result, a mother and her daughter lost real estate worth at least 5 million rubles (about $55,000 at current rates).

At Rosreestr and the local administration, investigators found documents that may have «evidentiary value.» From the suspects, they seized computer equipment, three SUVs, an electric car, $1,500, and 80,000 rubles (about $900 at current rates).

A criminal case has been initiated under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code, «Fraud,» which carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison with a fine of up to 1 million rubles (about $11,000 at current rates).