The activities of a group of fraudsters were stopped during a joint operation in Volgograd by police and counterintelligence officers. Using multi-step combinations, the attackers stole 56 million rubles from the budget. In total, 13 people have already been detained in this high-profile case. Two years ago, swindlers created several fake commercial companies. They produced fictitious documents on a computer about the supply of various goods abroad and systematically received refunds from the treasury for value added tax on exports. According to the Organized Crime Control Department and the FSB, the criminal chain of theft of public funds involved customs officials, fiscal authorities, treasury employees, judges, lawyers and a notary. On Saturday, during searches, new evidence of the criminal activities of fraudsters was seized. It is noteworthy that on individual folders with documents there were inscriptions “Destroy first.” While doing this, the operatives found members of the criminal group, wearing gas masks, dousing papers with gasoline, preparing to burn the evidence.
