Giving birth in a pre-trial detention center saved a woman from prison: she was tried for scams with international passports

Three of her accomplices received long prison sentences

The Moscow City Court changed the sentence of two of the four women who started selling foreign passports through one of the capital’s police departments. The highest authority took into account the “interesting position” of one of the accused and the undeservedly retained title of another lawbreaker.

As MK reported at one time, a scandal erupted in the migration department of the Izmailovo District Department of Internal Affairs. The audit showed that a whole business was established there for issuing documents for extradition abroad. At the same time, citizens who received passports did not undergo proper checks and did not appear in person at the passport office at all. Two female intermediaries did everything for them, and the paperwork was handled by the deputy head of the migration department with the rank of lieutenant colonel and her subordinate, a specialist expert. In total, according to security officials, more than 30 “foreigners” were processed in this way. Clients came to the scammers through an officially registered individual entrepreneur, the essence of which was hidden behind the vague wording “business assistance.” When the deception was revealed, the individual entrepreneur made a deal with the investigation, and it was his confessions that helped expose the entire criminal scheme.

The businessman himself received a suspended sentence, but the other participants in the scam did not get off so easily. The police officers were tried for taking a bribe, and their accomplices were tried for giving a bribe. At first, the Zamoskvoretsky court sent all the women to the colony. However, time has made its own adjustments. One of the convicts gave birth in a pre-trial detention center, thanks to which the Moscow City Court delayed her serving her actual sentence (4.5 years) until the child reaches the age of 14. Another person emphasized her state of health (she is disabled of the third group), successes at work as a doctor and participation in the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya. However, her sentence was reduced by only 6 months – from 7.5 to 7 years in prison. But the deputy head of the migration department not only received 8 years in prison, but also lost the rank of “lieutenant colonel”: the highest authority decided that the lady had disgraced the honor of her uniform. Her subordinate was sentenced to 7 years 3 months in prison.