“The Investigation Unit of the General Investigation Administration of the Russian MIA General Administration for the Krasnodar Territory accomplished the preliminary investigation of the criminal case initiated against members of an organized group based on essential elements of crimes stipulated by Articles 171, 158 and 174.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,” said the Russian MIA official representative Irina Volk.

According to the investigators, during the period from November 2015 through May 2016 the six defendants headed by a 53‑year old resident of Novorossiysk, having no license for extraction of minerals had secretly stolen over 177,000 tons of marl having from a land plot in Novorossiysk, thus inflicting a damage to the state in an amount exceeding 48 million rubles.

The defendants sold the stolen mineral to a large construction company for more than 28 million rubles.

Besides, the investigators established that the offenders had legalized a part of the illegal income in the amount of over 13 million rubles through fictitious agreements concluded with the controlled transport service organizations.

By now, the court has remanded three defendants in custody; the other three have given a written undertaking not to leave.

By way of compensation for the damage inflicted to the state, the investigators arrested more than 1.5 million rubles deposited by the defendants into the bank accounts of the entities controlled by them, as well as 17 special vehicles used by the gang to carry out their unlawful activities.

By now, the investigation has been completed. The materials of the criminal case with the indictment have been sent to court for consideration on the merits.