MOSCOW, January 13 (RAPSI) - Police have arrested a group of four fraudsters that are believed to have stolen over 70 million rubles from Russian bank accounts, the Russian Interior Ministry announced Monday.

The investigation found that the scam artists operated in the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg. They bribed bank staff to receive data on large bank deposits across the country and copies of the depositors’ passports.

The group then had false passports produced abroad with fake photos and used the IDs to open new bank accounts, transfer and cash money.

“The criminal group, as it has been revealed, stole over 70 million rubles using the scheme. Four fraudsters have been detained in the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and the Kaluga Region as a result of an investigation,” the ministry reports. A criminal case on fraud has been opened and the suspects put under arrest.