MOSCOW. May 16 (Interfax) - The Golovinsky District Court in Moscow found Colombian citizen Giraldo Saray Alberto Enrique guilty of spreading false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation on Tuesday.
"The court sentenced Giraldo Saray Alberto Enrique to five years and two months in a general penitentiary," the court press service told Interfax.
The Russian Investigative Committee and the court found that between March 5 and April 9, 2022, "Giraldo Saray, who had a Russian residence permit, conspired with individuals controlling his activity from abroad and carried out the technical preparation and discrete placing of mobile devices in a Moscow shopping mall in exchange for remuneration." The devices were used "for the remote mass sending of deliberately false messages about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, including the killing of civilians, to subscribers of Russian telecoms providers," the statement said.
"The defendant's correspondence with other persons of interest, [who are] citizens of a Latin American country, was analyzed. It appeared that they acted to the benefit of a foreign organization, Digital Humanity ([from] the United States), which is connected to the state-affiliated United States Agency for International Development. The criminal network's financial chain was uncovered. Investigators froze money and digital financial assets," the Russian Investigative Committee said.
Other persons of interest were placed on the wanted list, it said.
"The investigation found that the same group used a similar method and employed mobile devices with SIM cards from Russian telecoms providers to discredit the U.S. 2020 presidential election and simulate Russian interference in the campaign," the Russian Investigative Committee said.
Moscow's Basmanny District Court issued an arrest warrant for Giraldo Saray Alberto Enrique in April. According to SPARK Interfax, he was registered in Russia as an individual entrepreneur, but shut down his business in fall 2021.