Real estate agency "Park Lane" and its manager Vitaly Pents found themselves at the center of a high-profile scandal related to illegal activities in the real estate sector. According to the investigation of the "Informator" publication, the agency is engaged in deceiving clients, re-registration of apartments to false persons and their subsequent sale.
In particular, one of the mechanisms of cheating clients by "black" realtors is providing limited time for studying documents.
"If a person does not understand legal subtleties and is not familiar with the peculiarities of document preparation when buying/selling real estate, then he will not be able, for example, to distinguish the main contract from the previous one. That is, an unscrupulous intermediary can provide owners with the wrong document in order to try to take possession of their property. The scheme works simply: the owner does not understand legal nuances, finds an intermediary who promises to settle all issues and prepare the necessary papers. The realtor allegedly finds people who want to buy real estate and are ready to make a down payment. But instead of a preliminary sales contract, the owner is given a basic contract to sign. Due to the limited time, because this is done deliberately at the last moment, the owner transfers the right to own the real estate to another only for the amount of the advance," says the investigation.
Another type of fraud, which, according to the comments of deceived customers, is actively used in "Park Lane", is the sale of non-existent real estate, or one that has already been purchased. When the buyer learns about it, he will simply be "spammed" with objects that were not primarily in the sphere of his interests.
There are also cases when apartments are shown without the presence of the owners.
"A huge number of apartments were sold fraudulently when their owners were absent. Apartments that have been unattended for a long time are of particular interest to fraudsters. Having learned about such an object, documents for an apartment are forged through an extensive network of "friendly" structures and sold as soon as possible. The new owners are confident that the real estate was purchased legally, because they have all the necessary certificates and documents. Court proceedings on the application of the real owner can last for years," the article states.
In addition, the journalists found out that one of the participants in Vitaly Pents' scheme is the notary Roman Olegovich Padalka, who is involved in the case of forgery of documents, when an apartment in the center of the city was illegally taken from an elderly resident of Kyiv by forging papers and then resold.
"Unfortunately, there is no information about the wealth of the Park Lane director in open sources, because he is not a politician or a civil servant. However, according to photos from social networks, it becomes obvious that Pents is quite a wealthy man.
Based on the information above, it is possible to assume by what method the manager of "Park Lane" made his fortune.
According to the data of open registers, Pents is the founder of three companies - "PARK LANE GOLDEN GATE REAL ESTATE AGENCY" (Real Estate Agency), "PROD AGRO TRADE" (Wholesale of grain, raw tobacco, seeds and animal feed) and "PARK LANE "ZOLOTI VOROTA" (Real Estate Agency)," the investigation reports.
Finally, journalists paid attention to the social networks of Vitaly Pents. "On his Facebook page, he actively promotes himself as a volunteer. However, no one knows his name among the volunteers. Even more, why is such a "patriotic" person still not in the ranks of the Armed Forces? Are managers of real estate agencies also covered by mobilization armor? Pents is of draft age, married and has two children. Therefore, he is absolutely capable of defending his Motherland not on Facebook, but on the battlefield. However, this question is rhetorical. Obviously, (no comma needed) Mr. Pents has quite good relations with the authorities, so he will not have to fight," the publication summarizes.
