Three men held in penitentiaries in Lipcani and Rezina are investigated for implementing a criminal scheme by which women were blackmailed by being threatened with the publication of intimate images if they didn’t pay sums varying between €1,000 and €5,000. The criminal group consisted of prisoners and of men and women who are on the outside. These came into possession of photos after gaining victims’ trust by communicating with them through an application with encrypted messages, IPN reports.

The Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases said the three prisoners who led the criminal group are aged between 22 and 28. They were earlier tried for theft, break-in and inebriated driving that resulted in death.

A number of searches were conducted in the homes and domiciles of other suspects. These are to be indicted for blackmail committed by an organized criminal group.