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In Saint Petersburg, probe launched into swindling with former concentration camp prisoner’s apartment upon personal reception of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia

On September 14, 2019, the personal reception of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia was applied by a Saint Petersburg citizen who expressed his disagreement with a procedural decision of police officers regarding his report on swindling with an apartment of his grandmother. Upon assessment, the police refused to launch a probe. Believing the decision was unjustified, the man petitioned the supervising prosecutor for the assessment materials to be transferred to the Saint Petersburg Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia noted that the rights of the 93-year-old citizen must be protected and instructed to carry out a procedural probe as soon as possible.

The Saint Petersburg Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia immediately carried out a pre-investigative probe, upon results of which they launched a criminal investigation under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia (swindling).

On September 17, 2019, the investigators in cooperation with officers of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the city of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region detained a 52-year-old woman with temporary registration in Saint Petersburg working as a kindergarten teacher assistant.

According to the investigation, no later than May 8, 2019, the suspect, having an intent for swindling, had used the helpless state of the 93-year-old local citizen, a former concentration camp prisoner, misleading the latter regarding her intent to fulfill her contract obligations for the sale of the apartment in Babushkina Street belonging to the senior citizen. The suspect had convinced the victim to sign the contract for the sale of the apartment for 4.407 million rubles; however, she had not handed over the money. At the moment, the senior woman lives with her relatives.

During the investigation, the investigators will establish all circumstances of the incident and take measures to identify other persons that might be involved in the offence. It is being decided upon the suspect’s deterrence and charges.

The criminal investigation is ongoing under the supervision of the Central Office of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

Official spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia S. Petrenko