PGO properly investigates takeover attempt at major shopping mall

Subject of complaint: Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine (PGO), National Police 
Complaint in brief: On January 9, 2018, an investment company that owns a major shopping mall in Ukraine appealed to the BOC. Facing raider attacks, the Complainant reported about the failure of the National Police in Lviv Oblast to act in the case. 
The first attempt to illegally take over the complex took place in the summer of 2017. A former director employed by the company, who had been dismissed for theft of property during the construction of the facility, came to the center with a demand to hand the originals of certain documents and the corporate seals over to him. Showing falsified documents, he informed company staff that the business had been sold to new owners. Fortunately, the police were called and the real owners proved that the former director was not telling the truth.
However, the Complainant reported that, in September, another attempt was made to take over the complex. Based on forged documents, they changed information about the property owners in the Unified State Register of Property. Based on this, the Complainant had filed three criminal lawsuits. 
Actions taken: On January 12, 2018, the BOC investigator addressed the PGO in writing. The Office was pursuing two of the cases and had handed the third one over to a division of the National Police in Kyiv Oblast. For a few weeks, the Council’s investigator continued to communicate with the top management and a National Police investigator. The BOC ensured that law enforcement officers heard the case file of the Complainant, intensified the investigation, and made the necessary written requests and other investigative actions. 
Result achieved: On February 21, the company informed the BOC that it considered its complaint resolved. At present, the suspects in the illegal takeover attempt are being checked for involvement in other crimes.