Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Monday that it had raided a call center involved in a massive international fraud scheme that defrauded over 100,000 victims in 50 countries, including the European Union. The call center, which was part of a global criminal network, was reportedly earning $1 million daily through fraudulent investment schemes.
In a video released by the FSB, masked agents were shown storming a business center, apprehending employees, and seizing computers and servers. The scam targeted victims in countries such as the EU, U.K., Canada, Brazil, India, and Japan, with the perpetrators offering fake investment deals to lure unsuspecting individuals.
The FSB identified former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili as the founder of the company behind the call center, named Milton Group. Kezerashvili, who is reportedly hiding in London, is believed to have been operating the fraud network. The FSB also arrested 11 individuals, including Israeli-Ukrainian citizen Jacob Keselman, who was reportedly one of the heads of the organization. An arrest warrant has been issued for another alleged co-founder, an Israeli-Georgian citizen, identified by the last name Todua.
The call center was part of a broader scheme that involved numerous companies, with ties to online credit card payments processed through the Cyprus-based Naspay company, allegedly linked to Todua. Investigations into Milton Group have been ongoing for years, with a 2020 report by OCCRP exposing the network’s fraudulent activities, including its false claims of forex investment success.
In addition to fraud, the FSB’s statement revealed that the call center had also been involved in spreading false terror threats across Russian cities like Moscow, Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod during the height of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The FSB further noted that the Ukrainian SBU security service had allegedly instructed the call center to distribute these fake warnings.
The 11 individuals arrested in the raid face charges of organizing a criminal group, creating false threats of terrorism, and large-scale fraud. Russian authorities have continued their investigation, with an arrest warrant for Kezerashvili pending as they work to dismantle this extensive global fraud network.
