A family that legitimately acquired housing faces eviction due to gaps in legislation. The case of Anton Goryaev, a 38-year-old resident of Tashkent, and his wife with two children illustrates this problem: they may lose the apartment purchased last year after a sudden prohibition is placed on the legally acquired property and an heir residing abroad appears.
This situation is not unique. The publication Daryo previously covered a similar case involving Furkat Nurmukhammedov, who bought an apartment in the center of Tashkent. Soon, a real estate agent acting on behalf of an heir in Russia appeared, and the court recognized this heir's right to the housing. Anton Goryaev also first shared his problem with the publication Daryo.
The circumstances of such cases may indicate the existence of carefully planned schemes. As a result, citizens who acquired real estate strictly according to legal procedures may be deemed by the court as having no rights to it and end up homeless. Anton Goryaev, having decided to share his story, expresses hope for the protection of his rights and the rights of other affected citizens by the state. 'Gazeta' published his story after studying supporting documents and video recordings.
Anton Goryaev stated that he is a citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan and worked for a long time as a migrant worker abroad. He met his future wife abroad and persuaded her to move to Uzbekistan, where they have been living together for eight years and married. The couple has two minor children.
Due to family circumstances, there was an urgent need for their own housing. After a long search on the OLX website, in early July 2025, he found a suitable option. On Sunday, he contacted the person who posted the ad and arranged a viewing for Monday, July 7. In the morning before work, he visited the apartment, where he was met by a realtor named Sergey.
The apartment was located on Dagestanskaya Street (now Muhammad Yusuf Street), near the 'Gorky' metro station ('Buyuk ipak yuli'). It was in extremely poor condition, requiring complete renovation. The price of $56 thousand was slightly above market rate, and Sergey refused to lower it. Goryaev reported that after consulting with his wife, they decided to buy because life circumstances required urgent decisions. They lacked sufficient funds for the purchase, so Anton Goryaev sold his inherited paternal apartment, his only home, and planned to take out a small loan.
They decided to conduct a thorough check of all documents before paying the deposit. The realtor claimed the documents were in order. During the lunch break, Goryaev met with Sergey in the apartment. It turned out that the apartment was inherited, and the cadastre was registered in the name of an heiress named Zlatoslava. There was a notarized document regarding the right to inheritance with a verifiable QR code. The realtor explained that the owner died in 2022, and the heiress was a foreign citizen residing in Russia.
Goryaev specified that in 2022, a group of people used forged death certificates of the owner to register the right to inheritance but failed to sell the apartment. This group was subsequently convicted. Sergey presented a court decision from 2025 confirming Zlatoslava's right to the apartment, and the notary issued her corresponding certificate.
Goryaev believed that since the apartment had been verified by the court and the notary, all possible risks had passed. They agreed to pay a deposit. Goryaev's condition was to conduct a video call with the heiress through the notary to verify the authenticity of the documents, her identity, and her awareness of the power of attorney given to Sergey. Sergey agreed.
Although Goryaev suggested contacting a notary in their place of residence, Sergey proposed a notary who had previously checked the apartment's history. The realtor's words seemed convincing to Goryaev. The realtor made a photocopy of his passport, confirming receipt of a deposit of $300 and stating the total value of the apartment. They scheduled a meeting at the notary's office in two days.
On July 8, Goryaev personally visited the apartment to meet the neighbors and ensure the neighborhood was safe for the children. Neighbors confirmed that a woman named Svetlana used to live there and mentioned having relatives in Russia, which matched the heiress's story about the transfer of rights from her father to her. The atmosphere in the yard was quiet, green, and enclosed.
Goryaev noted that in most countries, people are not sufficiently legally knowledgeable, which is why the state establishes a certain protection algorithm when purchasing real estate. He was confident in the operation of this system because the notary checks the documents and guarantees the absence of encumbrances or prohibitions.
At the meeting at the notary's office, after discussing the details, Sergey suggested recording the money transfer process on video and also conducting a video call with Zlatoslava. Goryaev insisted on the video communication condition, which the realtor did not object to. The notary confirmed that he had checked the apartment and found no encumbrances, and also took responsibility for every document issued within the framework of the inheritance case.
After all checks, including communication with the heiress via video link and video recording of the money transfer, Goryaev agreed to the realtor's proposal to list the cadastral value of the transaction not at $56 thousand, but at 93 million soms, which is a common practice for inherited apartments to reduce the tax burden on the seller.
Shortly after signing the contract, Goryaev registered the apartment in the cadastre and moved into it, receiving approval from all state bodies. He began renovations, fixing a gas leak in the yard. However, three weeks later, while trying to pay utility bills through My.Gov.uz, he discovered a prohibition placed on the apartment. This prohibition was established by Aziz through another notary.
The investigation revealed that Aziz was the same realtor with a questionable reputation who was involved in the 2022 case. Initially, he was one of three suspects in an attempt to seize the apartment along with Artem, whose documents were forged as the son of the deceased Svetlana Kuzmina. Later, Aziz became a witness.
Artem was convicted under a lesser charge due to admitting guilt and cooperating with the investigation, rather than under the charge of group conspiracy. Aziz had several convictions: in 2017, for fraud and bribery, and then again for fraud, as well as for forgery and destruction of documents. At the time of the apartment purchase, Aziz was in custody since April 2023 and was released on July 1, placing the prohibition on July 29, 20 days after Goryaev's purchase.
Returning to 2022, documents for Artem were forged in August. In December, the court recognized him as a false heir, and the true heir was Adrey, residing in another city in the Russian Federation. In January 2023, Adrey's lawyer filed a lawsuit to lift the prohibition, and in February received a positive decision, but Adrey did not take steps to formalize the right in his name. The apartment remained in Artem's name until May 2025, when Zlatoslava obtained a court decision. The decision issued to Adrey was not registered, and the cadastre was not formalized. Upon receiving the decision, Zlatoslava formalized the inheritance with a notary and registered the apartment in her name.
When asked by Aziz about the reasons for not realizing the right to sell since 2022, he replied that he had been on a business trip in another country since 2023. Goryaev and his lawyer requested information from GUIN and learned that Aziz had been detained by law enforcement agencies and convicted in previous cases.