“The measures aimed to prove the guilt of members of the organized group were carried out within the operations support of the criminal case initiated on facts of illegal banking, namely cash-out and withdrawal of money into shadow turnover,” said Russian MIA official representative Irina Volk.

In their illegal cash-out scheme, the members of the gang headed by a 38-year old resident of Orenburg had used over 3 thousand payment terminals located in several regions of the Central, Ural and Volga Federal Districts. The payment terminals had mainly been installed in large trade centers and registered in assumed names.

Money paid in by citizens for various services, including utilities and mobile communication, had not been credited to dedicated bank accounts. The organizer's accomplices had taken the money out from the terminals, accumulated it in cash operating units, and had then provided it in cash to interested businessmen. In their turn, businessmen had transferred equivalent amounts to the fraudsters in non-cash form on fictitious grounds. The malefactors had charged a 3.5% fee for their services.

According to the preliminary data, the income earned by the members of the group during the period from 2011 through 2015 had exceeded 500 million rubles.

Based on the results of the complex of measures accomplished by employees of the General Administration for Economic Security and Combating the Corruption of the Russian MIA, the Investigation Department of the Russian MIA, the Administration for Economic Security and Combating the Corruption of the Russian MIA Administration for the Orenburg Region together with the Economic Security Service of the Russian FSB, the police initiated a criminal case against the five suspects subject to Part 1 Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Their four accomplices became defendants in the criminal case under Part 2 Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Policemen carried out nearly 20 searches at the places of residence and work of the gang members. The police seized financial documents, electronic media with a Bank-Client system for remote management of settlement accounts held by legal entities, seals of legal entities with signs of dummy organizations, false seals of territorial tax offices, and other items proving the malefactors' unlawful activities.

Download the official comment given by Russian MIA official representative Irina Volk

Download the video about the operations