Three Chisinau men, ages 33 to 38, are facing trial on suspicion of extortion and break-in robbery, the Special Cases Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release.
The investigation established that in June the trio broke into a Chisinau home and robbed the owner of 2,000 euros claiming a bad debt. Later that day, the suspects took the victim to a park and beat him, demanding an additional amount of 5,000 euros for what is known in Russian criminal slang as obschak, or common mob money, to the benefit of a criminal organization called Kitaets, whose members the suspects are believed to be. In mid-July, an operation was organized to transfer the first installment and arrest the suspects.
Further, a series of searches at the suspects’ homes revealed an illegal cannabis cultivation operation. About 200 cannabis plants and other relevant items were collected as evidence from the searched locations.
All three suspects were previously convicted for various crimes. Two of them were recently released on parole.
