According to investigators, Kutsenko and Abrosimov formed a “gang” no later than August 4, 2021 and involved other unidentified persons in it. From January 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022, the group committed “serious crimes” against visitors to five bars on Rubinstein Street.
The security forces detained seven people: five men and two women aged 21 to 32 from different regions of Russia, the Investigative Committee reports. Another seven accomplices were given undertakings not to leave and proper behavior. It turns out that in total there are 14 defendants in the “bar business”. At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs initially reported about “dozens” of members of the “OPG”.
Suspects in the fraud case were senior bar managers (born in 1996 and 1997), managers of “promo models” who distracted victims (born in 1990 and 2022), and an administrator of one of the bars, born in 1998, reported “Paper” in the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also spoke about six defendants who are only suspects in the case of the “criminal community”: this is a waiter born in 2000, four “promo models” born in 1999, 2000 and 2002, as well as a hostess born in 1996. They were released on bail.
In the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs described So:
- the organizers of the “criminal community” controlled the financial part;
- bar managers controlled the staff and the fraudulent process itself;
- the bar staff selected potential victims and reported them to the manager;
- the manager passed the tip to the “promo models”;
- “Promo models” soldered and robbed visitors.
In some cases, heavily drunk men were brought the bill several times, taking advantage of the fact that they forgot about the payment made, the Ministry of Internal Affairs notes.
At the same time, Rubinstein Street is not the only place where such a scheme is applied, she noted. “Paper”. Bars everywhere hire “consumers” – girls who lure customers into establishments and encourage them to order expensive food and drinks.
Reader “Paper” Konstantin told how in October 2022 he got into a similar situation on Dumskaya Street. The “consumer” brought the young man to a bar, where for one drink he was billed many times the cost of the ordered bill. However, the Petersburger had only 1,000 rubles with him.
According to Konstantin, some men threatened him, but later took his money and released him. Later Reader “Paper” wrote to the girl who brought him to the bar – she said that she works at the bar, but sometimes plays the role of “consumer”. According to her, most often they “take” men over 30-40 years old, but that day they decided to “take” Konstantin.
“Paper” told about another scheme: when the girls deceived the men they met in the applications for thousands of rubles in fake restaurants. According to this scheme, for example, the restaurant “Oh, wine!” on the cadet line. In April, a gang that pulled off such a scheme, disclosed police: ten people, including underage girls, were detained under the article on fraud as suspects. What is happening now with this case, was not reported.
Data on the bars participating in the scheme vary. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the criminal network included nine bars on Rubinstein Street (the department did not indicate the name), they write about the same “Fontanka” and “Mash on the Moika”. The United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg lists five bars:
- Vice City – a bar with author’s cocktails and neon decoration on Rubinshteina, 14;
- White Point – a lounge bar on Rubinshteina, 38, for loud music in which complained tenants of the apartment from above;
- “Provocateur” – a strip club on Rubinshteina, 11 with very high prices (Greek salad there costs 900 rubles, while prices for sushi and rolls are approaching 3000 rubles, 250 ml of still water will cost 400 rubles);
- restaurant Noir – a bar-restaurant on Rubinshteina, 11 with an emphasis on seafood;
- RS20 is a nightclub-restaurant that opened in 2021 on the site of the iconic Rubinstein cafe, which moved to the Fontanka embankment.
Fontanka and Mash on the Moika complete the list with four more establishments:
- “Perestroika” – a bar in Shcherbakov lane, 17, which complained local residents due to noise and queues on the stairs of an apartment building;
- Nau is a gastronomic bar designed in the style of Japanese izakaya drinking establishments, bought out by Kutsenko and Abrosimov in 2021;
- “Apron” – a cafe-bar with an 11-year history, which was bought out by Kutsenko and Abrosimov in 2021;
- Iskra is a pizzeria at 30 Rubinstein Street, opened in 2018 by Rubinstein co-owner Eduard Muradyan, at the beginning of 2022 outbid Kutsenko and Abrosimov.
All nine establishments are owned by the same company – Bar-Group LLC, Dmitry Kutsenko and Nikolai Abrosimov, accused of organizing the scheme, should from Focus Contour data. The pages of some establishments from the list on social networks have now been removed, and the sites are available only to owners.
