In Minsk, taxi drivers detained a courier of telephone scammers who took $60,000 from a pensioner.
The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case of fraud.
This was reported by the press service of the Investigative Committee's Minsk office.
How taxi drivers detained a courier of fraudsters
According to the investigation, a 74-year-old resident of Minsk received a call on his landline from a supposedly close relative. Crying, the "relative" said that she had caused the accident and asked for $60,000 to eliminate the consequences.
The pensioner believed him and handed the money over to the courier. The 46-year-old man was supposed to take the money to Russia. It was his first order.
Having counted the money, the courier began to wait for the taxi. However, the taxi driver found the order suspicious: a similar case had already occurred to a colleague. The taxi driver contacted his colleague, who confirmed his concerns.
Upon arrival at the order, the taxi drivers detained the courier and called the police.
During interrogation, the courier said that he realized that he was working for scammers when he took the money from the pensioner, but decided to see it through to the end. He was promised 4% of the proceeds.
A criminal case has been opened on this fact under Part 4 of Article 209 of the Criminal Code (fraud on an especially large scale).
Thanks to conscientious witnesses to the crime, $60,000 US dollars were returned to the pensioner, the department’s press service said in a statement.
