Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday it had raided a call center that defrauded 100,000 people in 50 countries, including the European Union.
Video shared by the intelligence agency showed masked agents storming a business center, rounding up employees of various ethnicities and examining computers and servers at the call center.
“The call centers were part of an international organized crime ring engaged in massive fraud against citizens of the EU, U.K., Canada, Brazil, India, Japan and others under the guise of investment deals,” the FSB said. “Revenues from its illegal activities reached $1 million a day.”
Russia’s FSB claimed the call center was part of an international network that “operated in the interests of” former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili, identified as the founder of a company named Milton Group, and said to be hiding in London.
The FSB said it arrested 11 managers and employees, including an Israeli-Ukrainian citizen identified by J. D. Keselman and said to be one of the company’s heads. An arrest warrant was also issued for an Israeli-Georgian citizen identified by the last name Todua and the initial D, reportedly the other company head.
The global investigative journalist network OCCRP published a report into the Milton Group’s Kyiv office in 2020, based on evidence provided by a whistleblower.
The report identified David Todua as the owner of Cyprus-based company Naspay, which had allegedly handled many of Milton Group’s online credit card payments.
It also named Jacob Keselman as CEO of Milton Group, saying he identified himself on Instagram as “the Wolf of Kyiv” in reference to a notorious penny-stock scammer in the Hollywood blockbuster “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
OCCRP said at the time Keselman denied that Milton Group had defrauded anyone, claiming its clients lost money because “they don’t understand” investment and forex brands. Todua denied having ties to Milton Group, OCCRP said.
Russian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for ex-Georgian defense minister Kezerashvili, media reported last month. A Moscow court reportedly ordered his arrest in absentia on fraud charges around the same time.
OCCRP reported in 2020 that Kezerashvili said in an email he had never heard of Milton Group, but confirmed that he was a business partner of Todua.
In Monday’s statement, the FSB claimed the raided call center was also instructed by Ukraine’s SBU security service in 2022 to send out scam warnings of terrorist acts in Moscow, Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod at the height of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s FSB said the 11 persons arrested in the call center raid face charges of organizing a criminal group, false threat of terrorism and large-scale fraud.
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