The Federal Security Service of Russia (FSB) stated that it recently raided a call center that had defrauded 100,000 people across 50 countries, including the EU.
The intelligence agency shared a video showing masked agents storming a business center, rounding up employees of various ethnicities, and inspecting the call center's computers and servers.
"These call centers are part of an international organized crime group that uses investment trading as a front to commit large-scale fraud against citizens of the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, India, Japan, and other countries/regions," the FSB stated. "The illegal activities generate revenues of up to one million US dollars per day."
The Russian Federal Security Service claims that the call center is part of an international network operating for the benefit of Georgia's former Defense Minister, David Kezerashvili, who is identified as the founder of a company called Milton Group, reportedly hiding in London.
The FSB reported that it arrested 11 managers and employees, including a dual Israeli-Ukrainian citizen, J. D. Keselman, who was confirmed as one of the company's leaders.
An arrest warrant was also issued for an Israeli-Georgian citizen with the surname Todua and the initial D, reportedly another company leader. Based on evidence provided by whistleblowers, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published a report in 2020 on Milton Group's office in Kyiv.
The report identified David Todua as the owner of a Cyprus-based company, Naspay, which allegedly handled many of Milton Group's online credit card payments.
It also named Jacob Keselman as the CEO of Milton Group, who calls himself "the Wolf of Kyiv" on Instagram, referring to a notorious penny stock scammer from the Hollywood blockbuster "The Wolf of Wall Street."
At the time, OCCRP stated that Keselman denied Milton Group had defrauded anyone, claiming their clients lost money because "they did not understand" investment and forex brands. OCCRP reported that Todua denied any connection with Milton Group.
According to media reports last month, Russian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the former Georgian Defense Minister Kezerashvili. Reportedly, a Moscow court ordered his arrest in absentia on charges of fraud around the same time.
OCCRP reported in 2020 that Kezerashvili said in an email that he had never heard of Milton Group but confirmed he was Todua's business partner.
In a statement, the FSB claimed that during the peak of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Security Service also instructed the raided call center to issue fraudulent warnings of terrorist acts in Moscow, Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod in 2022.
The Russian Federal Security Service stated that the 11 people arrested in the call center raid face charges of organized crime, false terrorist threats, and large-scale fraud.
