Real Estate Fraud in Tomsk and Beyond: Quick Transfers

In Tomsk, a 54-year-old man became a victim in a real estate fraud that cost him his apartment stake. Regional investigators from the Investigation Committee describe a carefully planned scheme in which two men studied the victim’s property and waited for a moment of vulnerability to surface. They lured him away with the promise of work on a construction site and kept him away for several days. While he was outside the city, the suspects completed the sale of his share for 1.7 million rubles and pressed him to sign a contract transferring ownership and a receipt for the funds. The victim did not foresee that the money would end up in the hands of the people who devised the deception, and the apartment stake ended up under the criminals’ control. Authorities say the two suspects have been detained and are being prepared for trial. The case underscores how fraudsters exploit opportunity, social manipulation, and official-sounding language to seize property without the owner’s presence.