MOSCOW, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court on Monday sentenced members of a gang of so-called "black realtors" to various prison terms, the court's press service told Itar-Tass.
"One of the defendants - Igor Artyukh - was fully cleared on the strength of jury verdict, and eight others were sentenced to various prison terms," a court representative said.
Konstantin Tyugai and Marina Fursova were sentenced to ten years each and Svetlana Romanova, Alexander Sinichkin and Maxim Aristarkhov got, respectively, 8, 7 and 5 years in a maximum security penitentiary. Ruslan Salimgarev, Andrei Tsymbal and Vladimir Fursov were given 5-, 4- and 3-year suspended sentences, respectively.
The jurors had said eight of nine defendants were guilty and that just two of them deserved clemency.
According to the investigators, the realtors used a sophisticated plan to illegally sell real estate in Moscow.
They used forged passports and the services of a notary who was a member of their group. Their actions caused damage to bona-fide buyers of property, and the Moscow department for housing policy and housing fund.