Petersburg law enforcement officials reported the detention of the organizer and several participants in an illicit withdrawal scheme. The information was released by the city’s Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the regional authorities for the Leningrad Region.
The press release stated that officers from the St. Petersburg economic police detained a 53-year-old man and three accomplices from the Primorsky district who allegedly orchestrated the fraudulent operation. Investigators noted that two sisters aged 38 and 47 handled accounting and financial documentation, while their 44-year-old brother, living in the Vsevolozhsk district of the Leningrad Region, acted as a courier who converted funds into cash through automated teller machines.
According to law enforcement, the scammers systematically moved non cash funds from customers who were legal entities and individual entrepreneurs into the clearing accounts of fictitious entities controlled by the group. The criminal activity reportedly spanned from June 2019 to January 2023, and authorities estimate that the illicit earnings reached at least 44.7 million rubles over the period.
Earlier, the Baza Telegram channel was part of law enforcement coverage in Tyumen. In a separate incident, two phone scammers were arrested for attempting to steal about 970 thousand rubles from a Russian woman. A local resident reported that she received calls claiming her relative had been involved in an accident, and the scammers urged her to transfer nearly a million rubles to help avoid criminal liability. The case underscores ongoing risks associated with social engineering and fraudulent financial schemes. Attribution: Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region; Baza Telegram channel reporting from Tyumen authorities.