The Lobnya suspects orchestrated a scheme to extort and defraud military personnel of tens of millions of rubles.

The Lobnya suspects orchestrated a scheme to extort and defraud military personnel of tens of millions of rubles.

The Investigative Committee has completed its investigation into a large-scale case of extortion and embezzlement from SVO members at Sheremetyevo Airport.

The organized crime group was led by defendants from Lobnya, Moscow Region: Igor Bardin, Alexey Kabochkin, and Alexander Vakulenko.

The operation involved “beggars,” “touts,” drivers, and a security unit led by Dmitry Boglaev. They systematically extorted money from service members through extortion, inflated taxi fares, and fraudulent ticket purchases. The soldiers' financial losses amounted to tens of thousands of rubles, in some cases over 600,000 rubles.

The Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR) has separated some of the defendants into separate proceedings. Some leaders cooperated and were released under house arrest, their testimony forming the basis for the theory about the organized crime group's activities. Most of the defendants deny the existence of the group and claim they committed fraud individually or in separate, small groups. The case involves approximately 40 people, with the total damage estimated at several million rubles.