The key facts
- In Novokuznetsk on October 14, two teenagers from Novosibirsk (15 and 16 years old) were detained while receiving 3 million rubles from an elderly couple
- The teenagers agreed to work as couriers for telephone fraudsters, having found a job offer in a messenger app in August
- A criminal case was opened against the 16-year-old; the 15-year-old has not reached the age of criminal responsibility
Detention under the control of operatives
In Novokuznetsk, criminal investigation officers detained two teenagers from Novosibirsk at the moment they received three million rubles from an elderly married couple. This was reported by the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee. According to investigators, the minors agreed to work as couriers for telephone fraudsters.
Course of the special operation
Police found out that the elderly spouses were under the influence of fraudsters who continued to demand a large sum from them. Operatives organized a special operation: the meeting with the couriers, during which the spouses were to hand over 3 million rubles, took place under the control of criminal investigation officers. Those who arrived for the money were caught red-handed. The detainees turned out to be two residents of Novosibirsk aged 15 and 16.
How the teenagers became couriers
According to law enforcement, in August the teenagers found a job offer in one of the messenger apps. Unknown individuals instructed them to come to Novokuznetsk and collect money from the elderly couple, promising a reward. The meeting took place on October 14: the teenagers received three million rubles from the spouses, after which both were detained at the scene of the money handover.
Criminal case
Investigators opened a criminal case against the 16-year-old resident of Novosibirsk under the article on fraud on an especially large scale — he faces up to ten years of imprisonment. The second participant, the 15-year-old, has not reached the legally established age of criminal responsibility for such a crime.
Similar case in Kamchatka
The publication also recalls a similar incident: in Kamchatka, FSB and police officers detained a fraudster courier who had come for gold bars worth more than 20 million rubles. The criminals contacted a 66-year-old entrepreneur from Ust-Bolsheretsk via a messenger, posed as employees of a law enforcement agency and convinced him to help in an allegedly secret operation — to buy five gold bars with a total weight of 1.7 kg. Bank employees suspected deception and contacted law enforcement, after which the entrepreneur continued communicating with the fraudsters under the control of operatives. A resident of the Moscow Region was handed dummy bars during the meeting; she was detained and a case of attempted fraud on an especially large scale was opened against her.
