“GA for Investigation of the MIA of Russia GA for the city of Moscow completed the preliminary investigation of a criminal case instituted on the grounds of offenses stipulated by Article 210 and Article 322.1 of the RF Criminal Code. The unlawful activities were suppressed by operatives of the Administration for Economic Security and Combating the Corruption of the Moscow GA, together with officers of the FSB of Russia Department for Moscow and the Moscow Region.

During the preliminary investigation, it was established that in January 2011, the offenders obtained for controlled organizations quotas to attract foreign workers. Their clients included construction and retail businesses. To formalize fictitious labor relations of these companies with migrants, the accomplices used the details of more than five thousand ephemeral companies. Most of the current accounts were opened in a commercial bank and the leader of the criminal organization was previously one of its top-managers. The cost of a full set of documents required to obtain a work permit or patent for one foreigner ranged from five to fifteen thousand rubles.

To imitate legal activities, the accomplices entered into agreements with organizations authorized to issue to foreign citizens documents necessary for obtaining work permits or patents, including agreements with medical centers, educational institutions and insurance companies. However, the services stipulated by the agreements were not actually provided. As a result, for example, many migrants subsequently worked at enterprises in the consumer market without undergoing a medical check-up.

All roles were clearly distributed among members of the criminal community. Six structural groups were subordinate to the leader. They carried out the receipt of orders for the execution of documents, including forged ones, and their subsequent submission to the units of the FMS of Russia.

After changes in the federal legislation, the accomplices adjusted their activities by providing migrants with fake certificates of passing the Russian language proficiency test and health insurance policies.

In just four years, through the use of various criminal schemes, they legalized the stay of over ten thousand foreign citizens on the territory of Moscow and the Moscow Region.

During the preliminary investigation, over a hundred citizens were checked for involvement in the commission of unlawful acts. Charges have been brought against 20 of them, and four have been put on the wanted list. The criminal case against the rest was organized as a separate proceeding.

To carry out the investigative actions, interpreters from Tajik, Uzbek, Turkish, Moldavian and other languages were involved. In addition, the investigators carried out over sixty searches, appointed twenty-three forensic examinations, analyzed electronic correspondence, video and audio recordings.

The full materials of the criminal case exceeded 1,500 volumes, of which only the indictment took 364 volumes.

The criminal case has been submitted to the Perovsky District Court of the city of Moscow for consideration on the merits,” said the official representative of the MIA of Russia Irina Volk.