MOSCOW, July 24 (AVN) - The growth of crime rate in the sphere of bank plastic cards forgery made 104 percent in the first half of 2001, which is the highest growth among all types of crime in Russia, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry's main department for combating economic crimes said on Tuesday.
Over 1,000 crimes in the sphere of fake plastic cards production and sale were registered in the country, which is the largest figure ever, the spokesman told the Military News Agency. As many as 916 criminal cases related to these crimes have been submitted to courts this year, and 42 people have been brought to justice.
The sharp increase in the number of plastic cards forgeries is accompanied by the growing number of crimes related to production and sale of counterfeited money. The growth made 17.3 percent in the first half of 2001, the spokesman stressed. Another peculiarity is that the crimes related to plastic cards forgery are mostly committed by well-organised mafia gangs, not by individuals.