The case of cow thieves from farms in the Vitebsk and Minsk regions has been sent to court

June 12, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. The case of cow thieves from farms in the Vitebsk and Minsk regions has been sent to court, Andrei Bondazhetsky, prosecutor of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, told a BELTA correspondent. As established by the investigation, three residents of the Vitebsk region, from June to December 2011, were engaged in the theft of cattle in the Lepel, Beshenkovichi, Senno, and Orsha districts of the Vitebsk region and the Krupki district of the Minsk region. The group is charged with 13 criminal episodes involving the theft of 34 cows for a total amount of Br48.2 million. The criminals' modus operandi was simple: late in the evening, they would drive up to a farm, and while one of the offenders watched the guard, the other two would lead or carry out, depending on the weight, the calves and heifers. The cattle were immediately transported and sold to a buyer. This large-scale theft was facilitated by a number of factors: the thefts were committed from poorly or not at all lit farms, which were also practically unlocked. They were guarded by only one watchman, despite the significant areas he had to inspect during his shift. Moreover, the watchmen themselves were often not examples of conscientious workers - they simply slept on the job. The prosecutor's office also noted that most of the thefts were committed from farms in the Lepel district, which may indicate weak preventive work by local law enforcement agencies. The investigation has qualified the group's actions under Part 4 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus ("Theft on a particularly large scale committed by a group of persons"). If guilt is proven in court, they face 3 to 12 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. Based on the study of the case, the prosecutor's office raised the issue of the need to give a legal assessment of the actions of the meat buyer. -0-