In Kyiv, the Court Sentenced a Fraudster Who Lived for Free in 68 Apartments in Three Months
The Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv found the man guilty of fraud involving daily apartment rentals. He would move into the premises, but after gaining access to the housing, he cancelled the payment, causing landlords not to receive money.
Circumstances of the case
As stated in case materials No. 760/18693/26, the man found apartments for daily rent through the Booking.com service. During communication with managers, he used a fictitious name.
Since the housing was rented contactlessly, the fraudster sent landlords screenshots of electronic receipts of allegedly successful payments. After receiving keys or access codes to the apartments, he cancelled the payment operations in mobile banking.
As a result, the man lived in the apartments, but the funds did not reach the companies' accounts.
The scheme operated from early March to May 2026. During this time, the man managed to live for free in 68 apartments in various districts of Kyiv.
For one day of living, landlords' losses ranged from 1,300 to 2,000 hryvnias. The total amount of cancelled payments amounted to 106,398 hryvnias.
During the court hearing, the accused fully admitted his guilt, did not dispute the collected evidence, and agreed to simplified proceedings.
What the court decided
The court found the man guilty under Part 1 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (fraud) and sentenced him to 1 year of probation supervision.
As previously reported by Judicial-Legal Newspaper, millions of Ukrainians have lost the ability to use their housing in temporarily occupied territories. In some cases, the property was damaged or destroyed by war; in others, houses and apartments physically remained, but their owners lost access to them.
The greatest difficulties in the compensation procedure arise precisely regarding property in temporarily occupied territories, as conducting inspections and confirming destruction is often impossible. This legal uncertainty creates grounds for various speculations and fraudulent offers regarding supposedly guaranteed compensation for housing in the TOT.
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