Yuri Shilov and his 18 black realtors

The Moscow Regional Prosecutor’s Office approved the indictment in the case of a group of realtors and funeral service workers involved in the illegal privatization of real estate of deceased citizens living in Moscow and the region.

According to the investigation, the criminal group consisted of 19 people who are now accused of organizing and participating in an organized crime community (OPS), fraud and laundering illegally obtained funds. According to the Moscow Regional Prosecutor’s Office, in the very near future the case will be sent to the Balashikha City Court for consideration on the merits.

According to investigators, in October 2013, the criminal community was organized by a realtor near Moscow, Yuri Shilov. It included 18 more people who set themselves the goal of illegally taking possession of real estate in Moscow and the Moscow region. Basically, dead persons who had no relatives fell into the field of view of the attackers. Their assets were subject to transfer to the ownership of the state. But sometimes, as noted in the report of the prosecutor’s office, it was also about taking possession of the property of the municipalities of the Moscow region. In total, there are 14 episodes of fraudulent actions in the case.

In order to take possession of the real estate of the deceased, the members of the OPS prepared sales contracts on their behalf, which were approved by a notary who was a member of the community. After that, fictitious documents were submitted for state registration. Then the property was re-registered to the accomplices of the attackers in order to legalize it. Subsequently, the property was sold, and the accomplices distributed the funds thus received among themselves.

In total, from October 2013 to 2017, attackers managed to get about 510 million rubles in this way.

At the end of 2017, operatives detained the swindlers. During searches conducted in their houses and apartments, both real and fictitious documents of deceased people, false seals and letterheads of various organizations were found.

According to the Moscow Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the backbone of the OPS was made up of persons “providing real estate and funeral services, acting as figureheads in the execution and organization of transactions for the registration of the transfer of ownership.” Also accomplices were those who “performed the duties of producing fictitious passports, death certificates and sales contracts.”

The Main Investigation Department (GSU) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Moscow Region, depending on the role of each participant in the organized crime group, charged them with organizing and participating in a criminal community (parts 1 and 2 of article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), fraud on an especially large scale ( part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and the legalization of money acquired as a result of a crime (clause “a”, paragraph “b” of part 4 of article 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Initially, the defendants were placed in custody by a court decision, but since the investigation lasted several years, most of them were transferred to a written undertaking not to leave or prohibition of certain actions. An exception was made only for the organizer of the criminal community – Yuri Shilov, who is still under house arrest.