MOSCOW, July 8 (RAPSI) - The Interior Ministry has exposed a huge criminal group suspected of illegally cashing around 36 billion rubles ($1.1 billion), Kommersant newspaper reported on Monday.

The group has been operating for over five years in the Moscow Region and other Russian regions. According to the ministry's department of economic crime and corruption, the group involved over 400 people and was led by a 42-year-old resident of Mytishchi, a town near Moscow.

The investigators discovered that the group used several commercial banks under its control and over 100 Russian and foreign firms in their scheme. The criminals transferred the clients' money to shell companies' accounts with its tame banks for cashing and subsequent transfer to accounts with Baltic and Cyprus banks. They legalized the money by buying property and charged a 2% commission for their services.

According to tentative estimates, their income from these illegal activities exceeded 575 million rubles ($17.3 million).

Kommersant reports that more than 300 police offices and investigators took part in the operation to cut short the group's operation. They searched 85 residential premises and suspect banks in Moscow and the Moscow Region and confiscated over 1 billion rubles ($30.1 million) of cash, financial documents and more than 500 stamps belonging to Russian and foreign legal entities. Seven leaders and active group members have been detained.