A court in St Petersburg has remanded a woman in custody after she was accused of stealing more than 20 million rubles from a 77-year-old pensioner in a real estate fraud scheme.
Olesya Prudnikova was detained on September 20 and charged with fraud under Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to the joint press service of the city courts.
Following her arrest, a judge ordered that Prudnikova be held in custody for a period of two months as a preventive measure while the investigation continues.
According to investigators, the crime began on August 28 when Prudnikova entered into a criminal conspiracy with an unidentified accomplice with the intent to steal another person's property through deception.
An unknown caller contacted the 77-year-old pensioner and gave her false information, claiming that she needed to sell her apartment in order to obtain a new cadastral number for the residence.
The victim was told that she must hand over the proceeds from the property sale, amounting to approximately 21.5 million rubles, to an employee of Rosinkass for the preparation of alleged new documents for the apartment.
Investigators said the victim was unable to adequately evaluate what was happening and agreed to transfer the money. She met Prudnikova in the courtyard of building 34 on Dostoevsky Street, where she handed over the cash.
Legal process and background
Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code covers fraud offences involving the misappropriation of another person's property by means of deceit or breach of trust. Under Russian criminal procedure law, courts may place suspects in pre-trial detention centers for an initial two-month period while law enforcement authorities complete preliminary investigations.
Rosinkass, officially known as the Russian Association of Cash-in-Transit, is the national cash collection organization affiliated with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The state-linked body provides cash transportation and vault services for financial institutions across the country.
Dostoevsky Street is situated in the Central District of St Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city with a population of over five million residents. The street is named after the renowned 19th-century Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky, who lived in the area during his time writing major literary works.
