MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Police detained eight members of a criminal money laundering syndicate who illegally cashed and transferred over 800 million rubles ($14.2 mln) into offshore companies, the Interior Ministry representative, Irina Volk, told TASS today.

"Officials from the Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Enforcement Chief Administration and the Interior Ministry's Investigative Department shut down the illegal activities of the criminal syndicate’s members suspected of illicit financial operations - the transfer of over 800 million rubles into the shadow economy," Volk said.

According to investigators, the organized criminal gang was made up of more than 10 members that had been conducting illicit financial operations in the Moscow Region, Rostov Region, and St. Petersburg since 2014, without any proper licensing or authorization documents. The group included top managers of a well-known credit and financial institution. "At their disposal, they had hundreds of legal entities, which we red-flagged as fly-by-night firms, to whose operating accounts they transferred "customers" funds to further turn into cash and transfer to offshore companies overseas," the representative elaborated.

Eighteen searches were conducted during the investigation: computers, notebooks, remote banking means, more than 200 ‘legal entity’ authorization stamps and other documents were hauled off into custody.

The group organizers and members - eight people - were detained and placed under house arrest.