A gang of seven people, four women and three men, will stand trial in Moscow after prosecutors accused them of luring men into an expensive cafe for staged dates, the Moscow prosecutor's office told Lenta.ru.
Prosecutors approved the indictment and sent the case to court. The cafe has been closed. Investigators identified 10 victims, with total damages exceeding 250,000 rubles.
How the scheme worked
According to investigators, the women met men on dating websites and invited them to a specific cafe on Leningradsky Prospekt. There, staff would order champagne billed as a premium drink but pour cheap alcohol into the glasses instead.
A single glass could cost 6,000 rubles, a cheese plate 3,800 rubles and a meat plate 4,200 rubles, investigators said.
No license, fake receipts
The cafe had no license to sell alcohol and no cash registers, and its receipts were fake, according to investigators. Once the men realized they had been deceived, they went to police.
The scheme was uncovered in October 2025.
