The consequences of a wave of deception among pensioners hit the son of the former vice-governor of the Leningrad region. The security forces trained on it. 47news figured out the state’s course.
The Frunzensky District Court of St. Petersburg on November 27 (until December 26) arrested three St. Petersburg residents: 20-year-old Vasiliev, 22-year-old businessman Antonov and 21-year-old student Nikita Kondrashov. The latter is the eldest son of the head of the Lomonosov district administration, Alexei Kondrashov. He was detained on the eve of last weekend in Sochi and brought here. They are charged with a rare article 187 of the Criminal Code – “illegal circulation of means of payment” by an organized group.
“Manufacture, acquisition, and sale of counterfeit payment cards, money transfer orders, as well as electronic media and computer programs for the unlawful receipt and issuance of funds,” says the norm.
According to investigators, the comrades used other people’s bank cards to work on the Garantex crypto exchange. The need was caused by bank limits on transfers (for example, Sber has up to 150 thousand per day and up to 1.5 million per month). Cardholders were paid a reward. Information about suspicious activity came to the police from the bank, and the case was opened in September.
The Garantex exchange offers work with different cryptocurrencies, replenishment and withdrawal of cash in rubles to Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa-Bank. Works around the clock.
Our interlocutors in the economic police do not hide the fact that through Article 187, a practice is being created to combat gray movements of money. The reason is the never-ending telephone scams.
Pensioners are daily bombarded with millions of voices with a Ukrainian accent. It’s no secret where most call centers operate and are inaccessible to the police. Money can also be transferred by a courier who took it under the pretext “your son was in an accident.” Over the past six months, such people have been increasingly detained, sometimes at ATMs.
In the case of Kondrashov Jr., as his defense assures, there are no deceived old people, but the court acted harshly – everyone had no previous convictions, was not involved, and was employed.
According to the text, Article 187 of the Criminal Code is harmless, but the sanctions under it for the group range from 5 to 7 years.
47news contacted the suspect’s father, Alexey Kondrashov. Of course, he is not in the mood for a conversation, but still commented on the difficult situation for him.
– My son is independent, he tried to earn money. Here, I made some extra money. When I was his age, I also tried to get on my feet and looked for opportunities. Now there is a new generation, new realities – digital assets have appeared. Until recently, this world was completely unknown to me. Now I had to dive in. I think that somewhere at the top a command was given to fight the shadow transfer of funds, but on the ground it was interpreted this way. Still, before the state wants to ban something, it must talk about it,” the father answered; they also came to him with a search.
In the 2000s, Kondrashev was the deputy head of the administration of the Nevsky district of St. Petersburg, the head of the administration of the Kirovsky (city), since 2014 the head of the administration of the Lomonosov district, in 2020 he became the vice-governor of the Leningrad region for internal policy, then returned to the Lomonosov district. A lawyer by training.
According to lawyer Alexander Meleshko, who represents the interests of the family, this article prohibits the circulation of only counterfeit means of payment that are specifically designed to bypass security systems.
– But definitely not cards issued by the bank. Law enforcement officers have already tried to follow this strange path, but the 3rd Court of Cassation overturned the decisions of lower courts. He is accused of using another person’s card. Well, that means we need to detain those who use their wife’s or husband’s cards. In Nikita’s case, I emphasize, there is one card. The person even later issued a power of attorney for use of the account.
– What if a person gives his card to a courier of telephone scammers? – modeled by 47news.
“If he realizes what he is doing, then this is complicity in fraud, but not the 187th,” the lawyer answered without hesitation.
According to him, in Russia there really is an under-regulated problem with the transfer of cards and the movement of funds: “But it should be solved by legislation, and not by repression. Ukraine cannot be reached, but why should young people be closed?”
“If the investigation has moved from legality to expediency, then at a minimum, this is politically short-sighted,” argues Kondrashov’s lawyer.
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2023-11-30 19:22:00
