Security forces busted a network of "mystery shopper" organizations. Counted 40 thousand affected trade workers

What it's about

Earlier, fake inspectors were reported, who would visit stores looking for violations, most often expired products. Then, sellers were forced to sign contracts and pay for dubious lectures.

According to Onlíner, dozens of companies whose employees visited stores have recently fallen under suspicion, and the Ministry of Anti-monopoly Regulation and Trade recently warned about fake inspectors. What kind of companies are these in reality?

— So who was behind these inspections — fighters for consumer rights, as they called themselves, or not?

— Last year, the Investigative Committee, together with internal affairs bodies, uncovered and stopped a scheme in the field of consumer protection that had been operating throughout the country for more than 10 years. According to our data, several organized groups were operating in Belarus, using it for profit.

The essence was that LLCs were created, declaring a wide range of goals during registration: consumer rights protection, conducting seminars and lectures, and so on. But, as established during the preliminary investigation, the sole purpose of this was the illegal acquisition of money from trade representatives.

For this, quasi-control functions were included in the charters during registration: monitoring compliance with consumer rights and trade rules, searching for consumer rights violations, and the like — to make their actions appear legal.

The criminal scheme was put on stream: when another LLC was created, its founders hired employees who were supposed to visit stores disguised as ordinary buyers. They worked according to two scenarios: the first — they sought out real violations of trade rules, the second — they could brazenly plant expired products. As a rule, they came to stores in groups of two or three people, sometimes alone.

Then they approached employees and offered to conclude a contract for training: seminars, lectures on trade rules and consumer rights protection. And at the same time, they made it clear: either a contract is concluded, or the violations will be reported to the controlling authorities.

Money from such contracts went to the accounts of these companies, with amounts ranging from 50 to 170-200 rubles per contract. The lectures were either formal or not held at all.

An example from one case of how it worked: an employee of such a company, disguised as an ordinary buyer, entered a store of one of the retail chains in Minsk, planted a bottle of expired beer on the shelf, and then "discovered" it herself. After that, she approached the saleswoman and demanded to conclude a contract for 170 rubles. The saleswoman agreed.

— What can be said about the scale of this scheme?

— In 2025, 14 criminal cases were initiated based on such facts, with a total of more than 40 thousand affected trade workers. The damage in these cases exceeds 8 million rubles.

According to the investigation, over the past 10 years, at least 20 such companies have been registered in Belarus: LLC "TorgProdKonsultant", LLC "TradeConsulting", LLC "Potrebitelsky Partner", LLC "Sfera Potrebitelya", LLC "Status Potrebitelya", LLC "Infoprod", LLC "Opyt Potrebitelya", LLC "Potrebitelsky Express", LLC "Sfera Vnimaniya", LLC "Potrebitelsky Shans", LLC "Potrebitelskaya Podderzhka", LLC "Potrebitelskaya Opora", LLC "ProdSeminar", LLC "ZhanitTorg", LLC "VisitorTorg", LLC "Orion Center", LLC "Pravlekpotrebitel", LLC "Sovet Potrebitelyu", LLC "Sodruzhestvo Potrebiteley", LLC "Alternativnaya Korzina".

Currently, about 60 people who participated in this scheme have been identified. The role of each is still being clarified, but more than 40 of them have already been recognized as suspects. Most of them are cooperating with the investigation, giving confessional testimonies, and detailing how this activity was organized.

The organizers have been found and detained. 13 people have been charged under the article on extortion committed as part of an organized group.

The cases are being investigated; it is too early to draw any conclusions or put an end to this matter.

— How could this scheme exist for so long and on such a scale?

— Vulnerability to extortion arose where trade rules were violated. On these facts, 12 submissions have already been made to government bodies and the management of trade facilities to eliminate violations.

As for the registration of such legal entities: the country operates on a declarative principle, and the founders themselves are responsible for submitting documents. In this case, they included functions in the charters that created the appearance of control activity — and used this as a loophole for crimes.

Only state bodies can control and conduct inspections. No legal entities are endowed with such powers.

At the same time, it is important to convey to trade workers: even despite the fact that all organizers are currently detained, if anyone encounters similar situations, they should immediately contact the police and the Investigative Committee.

— Why did they start dealing with this topic only now?

— In fact, the first signals appeared several years ago when complaints began to arrive and individual criminal cases were initiated. At the end of 2023, there was already a first verdict for the head of one such society. He received a real prison term for extortion. And then it became clear that this was not an isolated case, but an entire system.

In 2023, the head of LLC "PotrebitelGarantiaPravo" was sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony for extortion (part 2 of article 208 of the Criminal Code) from stores under the guise of consumer rights protection and providing educational services. 60 people were affected, and the damage amounted to almost 12 thousand rubles.

It should be explained that, firstly, such facts were hidden for a long time because retail chains themselves did not want to publicize them due to fear of reputational losses — for example, because of expired products found in them. Secondly, all this happened sporadically throughout the country, and trade representatives did not contact the Investigative Committee.

As soon as we noticed the systemic nature, we started collecting these facts and launched a large-scale investigation.

Here, the psychology of pressure also played a role. The criminals found quite fertile ground: it was unprofitable for a retail chain or a seller for a real inspection to come after a complaint from fake inspectors, which could even lead to a temporary closure of the store. Therefore, store managers knew about this scheme, and sometimes the money was collected literally by the store employees themselves.

One must understand how criminal activity generally develops. At first, criminals used conspiracy; it was a latent scheme that was difficult to detect.

In the initial stages, they genuinely looked for real violations, but over time they began to bring and plant expired products, losing their vigilance.

They acted like nineties racketeers. It was this audacity that largely became the last straw — representatives of retail chains began to contact law enforcement agencies.

— Why were these actions specifically classified as extortion?

— This is typical extortion: obtaining money under the threat of disclosing information that another person would like to keep secret. In this case, people demanded to conclude a contract and pay under the threat of reporting to the controlling authorities.

When one party demands that another sign a contract, everyone understands that something is wrong here. Contracts are concluded voluntarily, but here coercion was used.

They said: either you sign the contract and pay for training, or we contact the center of hygiene and epidemiology, write complaints, spread information about violations. This is a threat of disclosing information.

Therefore, the actions are classified as extortion under Article 208 of the Criminal Code. And stories about it being aggressive marketing or selling services are already the defendants' defensive position.

"Sellers called the neighboring village: close down, they've arrived"

— How was everything arranged in such companies? Is it true that they specifically sought out trade workers who knew all the weak points of stores?

— There was a kind of "top" — one, two, a maximum of three people, who created firms specifically for this activity. They became founders, appointed each other as directors, and effectively managed the entire scheme. Then they recruited employees who traveled around stores and shopping centers, placing such vacancies online.

Over time, some of those who worked in such structures back in 2015-2016 began to create new firms themselves and became managers.

Yes, indeed, former trade employees often worked in such companies. They knew the internal workings of stores well: how goods are displayed, how products move on shelves, where it is easier to hide expired goods. Sometimes they used the store's own goods: hid them deeper on the shelf, and after some time pulled them out and declared a violation.

There were specific instructions, a kind of scripts: how to behave, what to say, how to achieve the desired result. If store employees refused to sign contracts for seminars, pressure began. They could leave a note in the book of comments and suggestions as ordinary customers, write a complaint to the sanitary station, threaten inspections or publicity.

Closer to the moment when their activities began to be stopped, the fake inspectors acted quite brazenly and unceremoniously. They would preemptively plant expired goods, and then come and issue an ultimatum: either pay for non-existent lectures, or violations would be reported to controlling authorities, leading to sanctions up to closure.

— Did this scheme have a single center and who was at the top of the entire system?

— It's too early to say that one structure stood behind all these companies. The investigation is still ongoing. Currently, we are talking about several organized groups. Some defendants might have known each other, but there are currently no grounds to claim that it was a single criminal organization.

The investigation is now gradually delving deeper — at the moment, we have reached approximately 2015, but it is not excluded that the scheme operated even earlier. The volume of materials is very large.

— How were these stores chosen and who suffered more — large chains or small shops?

— It all started in Minsk — it was here that the criminal societies were registered. And then the scheme began to spread like a plague in all directions. In the regions, of course, it was easier for them to work, sellers might not know the legislation as well.

At the same time, both small shops, gas stations, and large, well-known retail chains suffered. That is, no one was protected from this scheme.

It got to the point where in district centers, when fake inspectors came to a shop, sellers immediately called neighboring villages and warned: "Close up, they are coming to you." Those simply closed the shop before their arrival.

— Why did the sellers still pay money?

— The problem was that sellers and store employees often perceived these people as representatives of authority. They came confidently, referred to legislation, showed certificates, referred to charters where quasi-control functions were prescribed, and effectively acted as inspectors.

Stores feared inspections and possible consequences: complaints to the sanitary station, appeals to controlling authorities, closure of the point. Therefore, people agreed to the proposals to avoid even more serious problems.

More than 40 thousand victims are involved in the case, and these are only established facts over 10 years. Moreover, it's not about a store being visited once: some trade facilities faced such supposed inspections again and again.

"Worked for a percentage"

— Could employees of these companies not realize they were participating in an illegal scheme? In job descriptions, they were often simply called "mystery shoppers."

— Extortion is an intentional crime. A person understands what they are doing and is aware of the consequences of their actions.

According to our data, employees were well aware that they were participating in illegal activities, especially in cases where it was no longer just about finding violations, but about direct pressure to make the seller sign a contract and deposit money.

People came prepared, many were legally savvy, well-versed in trade rules, and understood how stores operated. Some studied the object beforehand: they came to the store, looked at how goods were displayed, where everything was stored. Then they returned again — moved something around, fixed violations somewhere, and only then began to exert pressure. Their actions were consistent and clearly premeditated.

And it is important to note that all employees of such companies will be identified: records, mobile phones, equipment, black accounting have been seized; there is information about employees from the Social Security Fund. We will in any case reach everyone, even a former inspector or manager who worked there, and give a legal assessment of their actions — there are examples of such investigative practice.

Those who have not yet fallen within the scope of the investigation will also be identified.

— Have the statutes of limitations for prosecution not expired yet?

— No, in this case, the statutes of limitations have not expired. We are talking about an organized group, where, as a rule, part 3 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code is applied — up to 15 years of imprisonment, which is a particularly serious article.

For such offenses, the statute of limitations is 15 years. That is, the statutes of limitations here have not even come close to expiring.

— Where did the millions paid by sellers go?

— The money was managed by the company's management, spent on their own needs and payments to employees.

We have no facts of coercion to work; people voluntarily joined such organizations. Their earnings depended on the number of contracts concluded; they received a percentage of the amounts received. So, the managers themselves were interested in forcing stores to sign contracts.

Their salaries were close to the national average.

— What surprised the investigators most in this story?

— First of all, the scale. This is the first case with at least 40,000 victims — thousands of times more than usual in such cases. The scale itself is impressive.

The second point is the duration of the criminal actions.

And third — a certain audacity in the actions of the defendants.

Otherwise, from the point of view of criminal law, this is considered typical extortion. Yes, the method was non-trivial, disguised as seemingly legal activity, but, in essence, it is pure extortion.

From the point of view of the investigation, no fundamentally unsolvable difficulties arose.

The main difficulty is precisely the scale. We are talking about approximately 8 million rubles, while the money was collected in small amounts — about 100 rubles from each case, which translates into tens of thousands of episodes.

During the investigation of the criminal case, the Investigative Committee identified the causes and conditions that contributed to the commission of the crime. The interested bodies have been instructed on the identified gaps and shortcomings for their elimination.

These issues require monitoring — so that the opportunity to terrorize the market under the guise of consumer control no longer exists.

• 1
• 0
• 1
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0
• 0