Cartridge scam for an sum of over 100 mln rubles

"Employees of the Main Directorate of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, together with colleagues from the Republic of Tatarstan, suppressed the activities of an organized group whose members set up the production and sale of counterfeit consumables for office equipment under the guise of products of world famous brands," said Irina Volk, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was established that the illegal activity was carried out in a residential building in the Istra district of the Moscow region. Warehouses with finished products were located in the Moscow region, the Chuvash Republic, as well as in the republics of Mari El and Tatarstan. “When inspecting production and storage facilities, equipment was found and seized, including a machine for burning logos, holograms of well-known foreign manufacturers, packaging materials, more than 100,000 counterfeit cartridges, system units and financial documents. According to preliminary estimates, the copyright holders suffered damage of over 100 million rubles,” said Irina Volk. The main investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Tatarstan has initiated criminal cases under parts 3 and 4 of article 159, part 3 of article 180 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Ten active members of the group were detained. In regards to five of them, a preventive measure was taken in the form of detention, the rest are under recognizance not to leave and proper behavior. The measures aimed at establishing all the circumstances of illegal activity are underway.