A group of people have been exposed in Bucha, Kyiv region. They are suspected of seizing the property of academician Mykola Kolbun worth over UAH 18 million. He disappeared during the full-scale Russian invasion of the region.
This was reported by the press service of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
It is noted that Mykola Kolbun lived alone in Bucha and had no family. In March 2022, during the Russian occupation, the 77-year-old scientist suddenly disappeared. His relatives took advantage of his absence.
Law enforcement officials believe that a friend who helped the missing man with the housework was involved in the illegal scheme. She conspired with her roommate and acquaintance, a native of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, as well as other people.
The investigation established that after the scientist's disappearance, the defendants entered false data into the Inheritance Register: the real document was replaced with a fictitious one in favor of the woman. The will itself was prepared separately and signed on behalf of Kolbun. The scientist had apartments in the capital, houses, and commercial real estate, the Kyiv region police specified.
“They subsequently initiated a court procedure to declare him deceased in order to gain access to his inheritance. As part of the investigation, more than 30 witnesses were questioned, documents and equipment were seized, and 16 searches were conducted in various regions of Ukraine,” the report says.
The woman and her roommate were informed of the suspicion, their accomplice (a Russian) – in absentia. They are charged with unauthorized actions with information, forgery of documents and attempted fraud on a particularly large scale, committed by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 4 of Article 190, Part 3 of Article 362, Parts 3, 4 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The sanctions of the articles provide for up to eight years of imprisonment. The court chose preventive measures for the suspects – detention in custody with the alternative of bail. Currently, law enforcement officers are identifying other participants and possible additional episodes.
The circumstances of the academician's disappearance are being investigated separately. Human remains were found near the place where his phone was found. The prosecutor's office has initiated a DNA examination. For now, the scientist is considered missing, in accordance with the court's decision, the Kyiv region police said.
Mykola Kolbun is a Ukrainian scientist in the field of bioengineering, an academician of the Ukrainian and European Academies of Sciences. His name is included in the ranking of the most influential personalities in Ukraine.