Nearly 200 properties in Izium under investigation for document forgery in eVidnovlennia compensation program

This was reported by Serhii Bolvinov, Head of the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv region, during an interview with Ukrinform.

“We are currently checking at least 200 houses registered under this program. I'm not saying that all 200 cases involved illegal actions, but we do have definite information that some houses were not damaged by shelling, yet people received compensation,” stated Bolvinov.

According to Bolvinov, the fraud scheme allegedly involves a commission head as the main figure. In collaboration with other individuals, they allegedly made houses appear as if they were damaged by shelling. The commission would then visit the site, conduct a so-called inspection, hold meetings, and decide that the property qualified for compensation under the program, determining the compensation amount.

“According to the approved procedure, the assessment of properties and compensation amounts is conducted by commissions established within communities. In our case, the commission head was a former deputy head of the administration. Naturally, I cannot name him or others involved as guilty — that's for the court to decide. I can only relay what the investigation has uncovered: how properties were selected and manipulated. Some properties were intentionally damaged, like removing roofs. There's one house where we're still unsure how it was destroyed, but our bomb disposal experts confirm it was definitely not damaged by an explosion. Yet, the owner received a certificate worth 1.5 million UAH,” Bolvinov explained.

To convert the certificate into cash, one of the suspects allegedly used his wife's grandmother, who owned a house. A fictitious sale agreement was made, allowing the funds to be transferred to the grandmother’s account, which effectively meant the suspect's wife had access to it. These funds were then converted into cash, with one of the suspects reportedly purchasing a car. This is just one completed episode, and there is evidence that they were planning to repeat the scheme.

During searches, authorities seized various items, including mobile phones from the suspects.

“I’ll share a fact that may be upsetting to many — it certainly was to me. During the searches, we confiscated mobile phones from the suspects. The alleged organizer and his accomplices had a group chat. Do you know what they called it? ‘The Kings of Izium’. They considered themselves ‘kings’. But the scheme involves many more individuals, including private entrepreneurs who made expert assessments, notaries who re-registered properties, those who converted funds into cash, and individuals who submitted fake applications for compensation,” added Bolvinov.

In August, the police exposed a scheme in Izium involving falsified data in the eVidnovlennia program to receive state compensation for properties that were not actually damaged by shelling. Searches were conducted at the offices of Izium's military administration officials, experts, and within the local administrative service center (CNAP).

The first suspects in this case were officially charged in early November.