Police stopped series of frauds against pensioners in Moscow

"Operatives of the MIA of Russia Administration for the EAD of the MIA of Russia GA for Moscow suppressed the illegal activities of three touring criminals who are accused of fraud.

It was established that the offenders, who had come to the capital from the southern regions of Russia and a neighboring state, acted according to the same scenario. They called pensioners and introduced themselves as their close relatives. Then it was said that they had committed a traffic accident, as a result of which people were injured, or another illegal act. After that, they demanded to transfer money to the courier allegedly to help the victims and minimize responsibility. Misled pensioners gave away their savings.

But one day this criminal scheme failed. The call came to the phone of a young woman who had previously worked as an interrogator. The caller addressed her as her mother and, saying that she had hit a girl at a pedestrian crossing, asked for a million. The ex-interrogator immediately understood the true reason for the call. Without interrupting the conversation, she reported what was happening to the police using another phone. On the same day, the perpetrator and her alleged accomplice were detained. It turned out, that the day before, an 83-year-old resident of the Eastern Administrative District of the city of Moscow was deceived in a similar way. The victim believed the legend voiced by the offenders, and gave them one million rubles.

Also, the police detained the defendant in several other criminal cases of fraud. The 33-year-old man was not embarrassed even by the very venerable age of the victims, with the eldest of them turning 93 this year! Using a similar scheme, he got hold of their savings.

Detectives instituted a criminal investigation into this fact on the grounds of a crime stipulated by Article 159 of the RF Criminal Code. Placement to custody was selected as the preventive measure for the detainees. There are grounds to believe that the suspect could be involved in similar unlawful acts committed in the capital. The preliminary investigation continues," said the Spokesperson for the Russian MIA Irina Volk.