Million for silence: ex-employee blackmailed cosmetics firm in Minsk

The Leninsky (Minsk) district department of the Investigative Committee established the circumstances of extortion on an especially large scale, the correspondent of the Minsk-Novosti news agency in the USC for Minsk was informed.

Photo is illustrative, photo magnific.com

According to the investigation, the 36-year-old man, after dismissal from the capital’s cosmetics company, decided to earn money and began threatening the former leadership with compromising information and public exposure.

In August 2026, the defendant sent an e-mail to the organization, in which he outlined the violations allegedly revealed by him during his work, as well as suggestions regarding illegal schemes of interaction of the company with counterparties. In the document, he indicated that he would forward this data to various state bodies.

The deputy director of the company, who received the letter, arranged a meeting with the man. In a personal conversation, the Minsk citizen demanded to transfer 1 million BYN to him within three days for non-disclosure of information. After that, he promised to destroy the information and go abroad. To give the illegal actions the appearance of legality, he proposed to issue a contract for the sale of antique items.

The woman reported this to the management and lawyer of the enterprise, after which she decided to contact the police. In the course of operational-search activities, employees of the GUBOPiK MIA detained the defendant.

“The citizen said that he demanded to transfer the money allegedly as moral compensation in connection with the disagreement of his dismissal by agreement of the parties,” commented the head of the Leninsky (Minsk) district department of the Investigative Committee Ekaterina Bondaruk. In the case, the participants in the criminal process were questioned, confrontation rates were held, information on telephone connections, audio and video recordings were analyzed, and property was seized.

The actions of the accused are qualified under Part 3 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code (extortion committed in order to obtain property benefits on an especially large scale). With the sanction of the prosecutor, a preventive measure in the form of detention was applied to him.

The criminal case was transferred to the prosecutor for referral to the court.