Pawnshops complained about the requirement to return items deposited due to fraud.

Pawnshops have complained that they have to return valuables in cases where customers handed them over under pressure from fraudsters. This was reported to Izvestia by market participants — the Pawnshop Development Association, the National Association of Pawnshops (NOL) and the Regional Pawnshop Association (RAL).

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Malefactors, under various pretexts, force people to hand over jewelry, and transfer the proceeds to criminals, so pawnshops are used as an intermediate stage in deception schemes. However, if a person has filed a complaint with law enforcement agencies, the police can come to the pawnshop and seize things by court order. As a result, the company remains without possessions and without earnings.

"There are few similar cases in the Russian Federation, within two or three dozen, but they are critical for us, because the majority of pawnshops are microenterprises that incur double losses," said Maria Pospelova, vice chairman of the Pawnshop Development Association.

The Pawnshop Development Association has sent an appeal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, as well as the Bank of Russia and the Federal Assay Chamber (FPP) with a request to review the legislation so that businesses are better protected. The complaint notes that the pawnshop does not really know whether there was a real fraud or not, and appraisers are ordinary people without special psychological skills.

Izvestia has sent inquiries to these agencies. The Central Bank clarified that they had received an appeal and would consider it. The FPP did not receive the letter.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

I would have known the ransom: pawnshops do not want to return the valuables handed over due to fraudsters