13 Novosibirsk “psychics” earned 70 million from rituals

The Novosibirsk court issued another verdict in a high-profile case of a gang of swindlers who traded and stole money under the guise of selling dietary supplements and providing psychic services. The damage exceeded 70 million rubles.

The Leninsky District Court of Novosibirsk found Anton Astashov and 12 other defendants guilty under Part 4 of Art. 159 and part 2 of Art. 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud and organization of a criminal community), the press service of the regional prosecutor's office reported on February 7.

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“Victims sought the services of ‘psychics’ after seeing advertisements in the media that help people solve problems in various areas of their lives,” the department said. - They called the number indicated in the advertisement, the dispatcher received the call, received information from them about the purpose of the call and their intentions, and said that they would call you back. After some time, the victims received a call, the person who called seemed to be a psychic, found out about the problems that the victims had, convinced them that they needed to use their services, which would lead to a 100% positive result in solving their problems. To do this, the victims need to make an “altar”, which meant transferring a certain amount of money for performing a certain ceremony, which, in turn, should solve the problem that the victim addressed.”

Those who paid for the first "rite" were called again for new ones. The victims were convinced that a curse lay on them and their relatives, that they could die.

Astashov was charged with 53 episodes. He was recognized as the organizer of the organized criminal group and sentenced to 14 years of strict regime. Other defendants in the case received from two to seven years, one defendant got off with a suspended sentence.

The Leninsky District Court also considered the case of the second organizer of the organized crime group, 61-year-old Tatyana Gainulova. She previously received 15 years in prison.

The press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Novosibirsk Region described Gainulova’s crime as follows : “After the client called the specified phone number and reported a health problem, the operator wrote down his contact details. The client came up with a serious diagnosis, which, if the treatment was refused, was supposedly threatening with a fatal outcome. This was followed by psychological treatment, aimed at capturing the largest possible amount "for treatment". If the client doubted that the treatment with dietary supplements would be effective, he was informed that the situation with his health was of great scientific interest, and if he continued the course of treatment with dietary supplements, then state structures would reimburse him for the entire cost of treatment from the federal budget. After that, a new course of treatment with similar drugs is calculated for the client. The deception of citizens regarding the provision of psychic services was carried out in a similar way. "Psychics" stole money from clients under the pretext of returning them through lottery tickets "charged with space and astral energy."