“Officers of the Department for Economic Security and Combating the Corruption and the MIA of Russia GA for the Nizhny Novgorod Region have suppressed the activities of a group of persons suspected of manufacturing, storing and marketing counterfeit motor oil.

Illegal production and warehouse were occupying rented premises in the Kanavinsky District of Nizhny Novgorod. The investigators found out that the workshop was functioning for about a year. According to preliminary information, the offenders purchased inexpensive motor oil of the lowest quality and, manually, poured it into two-hundred-liter barrels with labels of well-known international brands. The barrels were sealed, labeled and supplied with marking, after which they were sold to wholesale buyers from other regions of Russia through controlled commercial enterprises.

Searches were carried out in the production and storage premises with the power support by the Rosgvardia officers. They found more than a ton of ready-to-sell counterfeit products, more than 250 empty barrels with logos of well-known companies and four tons of motor oil purchased as raw material. The police also seized labels, sealants, equipment for applying inscriptions, computer equipment, accounting documents and other items that have evidentiary value for the criminal case. The location of the printing house, which provided illegal printed products, was established.

As a result of operational-search activities, three suspects in the organization of the criminal business were detained by the police. With respect to them a preventive measure has been chosen in the form of a recognizance of non-exit and appropriate conduct.

The GA for Investigation of the MIA of Russia GA for the Nizhny Novgorod Region initiated a criminal case on the features of an offense stipulated by part 3 of Article 180 of the RF Criminal Code. Samples of seized products have been sent for examination, the police determine the amount of damage caused to the copyright-holding companies. The preliminary criminal investigation is on-going,” said the official Spokesperson for the Russian MIA Irina Volk.