Criminal Ring Targeted Senior Drivers in Moscow Region
A crime group operated in the Moscow region, with activity concentrated mainly in the Domodedovo district. The group was led by a pensioner who formulated the plan to steal and drew in a Moscow restaurant chain executive and a 17-year-old teenager to participate in the fraud scheme.
The attackers used an expensive SUV to shadow elderly motorists on the road. They would surge ahead, slow down abruptly, and create a trap. When the intended victim tried to pass, the assailants threw a small object into the car and later caught up, pulling the vehicle over under the pretense of a supposed accident. At that moment, a minor scratch on the victim’s car was noticed by the attackers, a detail used to justify their demand for compliance.
With accomplices playing roles as a law enforcement officer and later a car service employee, the criminals persuaded the drivers to transfer large sums of money as compensation for the allegedly damaged mirror and other imagined harms.
All members of this criminal group were detained. Prosecutors filed fraud charges against them, tied to six separate episodes that illustrate the extent of the operation and its intent to deceive and extract money from unsuspecting drivers.
- Driving can now be viewed RuTube
In this case, law enforcement identified a carefully coordinated effort that leveraged impersonation and staged incidents to manipulate victims. The arrest and charges demonstrate the authorities’ commitment to dismantling such schemes and protecting road users from similar fraud attempts.