April 23, 2015. Over 250 residents of Sverdlovsk Region were deceived by a company that promised to pay off their bank loans, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Internal Affairs Ministry’s press service reports.

The police say the swindlers operated in Yekaterinburg, Verkhnyaya Salda, Nizhniy Tagil, Nizhnyaya Tura, Kachkanar, Krasnouralsk, Serov, Severouralsk, Kushva, Kamensk Uralsky, and Krasnoturyinsk.

‘Victims signed an agreement with the company to provide 50% of the original loan sum, while the firm promised to pay the bank in full,’ the press service says.

The company offices closed down in late November 2014, with all the employees and all the money gone. Criminal action was taken, with charges based on Article 159 (Part 4) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (Organized Large-Scale Fraud).

The police inquiry team is now establishing the exact number of victims and the amount of damage done to them.