The mask has been charged: a gang of "chameleon" realtors was convicted in Moscow

February 17, two realtors, who sold apartments in Moscow under false documents, were sentenced to 14 and 6 years in prison. The court found that Natalia Kotova and Nadezhda Eremenko were members of a criminal association, which appropriated real estate of socially unprotected people: the elderly, lonely, serving a sentence in prison. And in 2021-2023, Kotova and Eremenko tried to realize several apartments of a Muscovite woman who disappeared back in 2017. At the trial, witnesses indicated that the fraudsters used their connections in official organizations, where they were helped to re-register apartments without a power of attorney from the owners. How worked the scheme of taking away housing, - in the material "Izvestia".

How sold apartments

February 17, Tushino district court of Moscow sentenced to 14 and 6 years of general regime members of the "gang of chameleons" - realtors Natalia Kotova and Nadezhda Eremenko. They were found guilty of fraud on a large scale and legalization of property acquired by criminal means.

The gang got its name due to the fact that black realtors, coming to transactions on the sale of housing, represented themselves as owners of real estate, and to be similar to the photos in the passports of victims, usually changed their appearance - used wigs, makeup.

"Kotova led a structural unit, which is part of a criminal organization, as well as directly participated in a criminal association, together with Eremenko and other persons, had the intention to systematically commit serious crimes," - stated in the press service of the general jurisdiction courts of Moscow.

Among such crimes - illegal acquisition of real estate rights of socially unprotected citizens - the elderly, lonely, serving a sentence in prison.

For example, according to the case materials, in 2021-2023 Kotova and Eremenko tried to sell the real estate of the Muscovite Svetlana Khalyapova. In the databases of law enforcement agencies, she was listed as missing since 2017. And at that time, black realtors tried to realize three of her apartments - with the help of false documents.

One of the three apartments the gang sold in 2021 - it was purchased by someone Vladislav Kuznetsov. A month later, he repaid the mortgage, executed in the process of the transaction, and resold the property to another person - Sergei Brukhovsky.

- We bought the apartment through Sberbank. He handled the whole deal. This is my property. The prosecutor's office approached me, they checked and found nothing out," Sergei Bryukhovsky told Izvestia.

According to Izvestia's source in the law enforcement agencies, the first buyer could be a formal owner, behind which stood convicted today black realtors.

Two more apartments Khalyapova Kotova and Eremenko did not have time to sell - they were detained when they tried to register one of the apartments to a new fictitious owner. One of the criminals came to the deal, disguised as the missing Svetlana Khalyapova. The plan could have worked if not for the notary: he realized that the documents for the apartment were forged and called the police.

According to the testimony given in court by witnesses, the members of the "chameleon gang" have connections in official organizations, which gave them the opportunity to forge documents.

- The apartment was registered on me without a power of attorney, because the employees of the Cadastral Chamber were their own people. I agreed to the criminal fraud due to my difficult financial situation and the presence of loans," said one of the witnesses, who was associated with the gang.

Another witness - a realtor, who participated in one of the illegal transactions, said at the trial that she did her job responsibly and was herself deceived: Natalia Kotova once again pretended to be the owner of the apartment being sold during the registration of the transaction. The witness confirmed that for this transaction Kotova presented forged documents: passport, certificates of ownership and inheritance rights.

How to protect yourself from fraudsters

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the first nine months of 2024 in Russia committed almost 5.5 thousand crimes related to real estate transactions. At the heart of many fraudulent schemes with housing is a simple written form of the transaction, which implies both the ease of use of forged documents, and gullibility of people, told "Izvestia" in the press service of the Federal Chamber of Notaries.

According to the research center "Analytics. Business. Law", from 2019 to 2024, the number of crimes with real estate exceeded 40 thousand.

The situation described in court reveals significant gaps in the system of state registration of real estate, says lawyer Anna Minenkova. According to her, fraudsters managed to take advantage of unprotected places in the work of MFC and cadastral chambers, where there is a possibility of unauthorized access or data manipulation.

-The presence of "their own people" indicates that the problem is not so much technological as organizational - weakness of internal procedures for control and verification of documents, as well as insufficient responsibility of the staff, allowing for outside interference, - explained the lawyer.

The problem may be related both to the low legal awareness of employees, lack of control, and to the low level of salary, which encourages them to look for another, illegal source of income, Anna Minenkova added.

The registration system does not always check the authenticity of documents in detail, which allows the use of forged certificates of ownership, inheritance and identity cards, said criminal defense lawyer Tatsiana Pashkevich.

- The weak point is the lack of interdepartmental interaction. There is no effective exchange of information between MFC, Cadastral Chamber, law enforcement agencies and other government agencies, which makes it difficult to detect fraud," says the lawyer.

Anna Minenkova believes thatsuch cases are an indicator that a comprehensive modernization of the system is needed.

- First of all, it is strengthening of control over access to databases and integration of information systems of various agencies, allowing to quickly reconcile data on identity and property rights, as well as to actively monitor any attempts of unauthorized interference, - she said. - In addition to technological measures, attention should be paid to more thorough certification and training of employees, as well as the development of clear standards of interaction between agencies, which will reduce opportunities for corruption schemes and insider arrangements.

Alexey Novikov, managing partner of Criminal Defense Firm, said that the ideal candidates for fraudsters are citizens who try to get a service cheaper than the market price.

- People in pursuit of profit become less cautious and fall for the tricks of fraudsters. Therefore, it is prudence when buying or selling real estate is the only effective way to avoid trouble," he said.

But every year it is more and more difficult for fraudsters to deceive people, said the chairman of the Bar Association "Your Legal Attorney" Konstantin Trapaidze.

- Modern Russia has thought over mechanisms of defense against swindlers. The first is the creation of the Federal Chamber of Notaries, " he said. - Previously, everything was written down in a journal, and there was even a special service, when they could make a power of attorney retroactively or execute it in the absence of a person. Now a notary risks not only his license, but also his freedom. The second is the so-called unified register of notarial actions, where one can check whether a power of attorney is valid or not, whether it has been revoked, whether it has ever been issued or not.

An important factor in the prevention of fraud is the creation of the Unified State Register of Real Estate, adds Konstantin Trapaidze.

In order to "roll back" an illegal transaction, the owners must apply to the police and the registration chamber, submitting a statement that they did not perform any actions related to the alienation of the apartment or the transfer of ownership, reminded Konstantin Trapaidze.

Tatyana Pashkevich reminded that to prevent such cases it is possible to establish a restriction on remote transactions through Gosuservices.