December 26, 2014. The investigative division of Yekaterinburg Department of Internal Affairs completed their inquiry into a criminal case involving theft of 5m RUR from bank cards. All of the suspects have been detained, the Department’s press service reports.

According to the inquiry team, the head of the organized crime group elaborated a scheme for stealing money from bank cards and bought equipment for making bank card duplicates. His 21-year-old brother, who was good at computers, became his accomplice and, together with three more ‘partners’, used Yekaterinburg- and Sverdlovsk Region-based ATMs that support one of the well-known international payment systems to take out cash with the help of fake cards.

The group allegedly stole over 5m RUR between November and December 2013.

The group leader and his accomplices are now facing charges of theft (Article 158 (Part 4, Paragraphs a & b) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code); the punishment could be up to ten years in prison.

The investigation of the criminal case is complete; all the files relating to the case were handed over to Chkalovsky District Court of Yekaterinburg.