MOSCOW, July 16 - RAPSI. Investigators suspect employees of MTS and Vimpelcom Moscow technical centers of providing data to individuals accused of unlawfully gathering information on officials, including through wiretapping.

According to the Investigative Committee, its officers maintain that "between January 2010 and May 2011 unidentified individuals received from unidentified MTS and Vimpelcom technical center employees archives of text message exchanges between three Moscow Region residents for further distribution, which constitutes a breach of the correspondence confidentiality guaranteed by the Constitution."

The FSB reported on Monday that it stopped unlawfully gleaning private information on top-ranking officials.

A case has been opened on charges of privacy violation and the breach of secrecy of telephone calls, mail, cable or other messages and correspondence.