Charges against six people accused in a credit-card fraud ring were dismissed in U.S. District Court last week but prosecutors say they intend to continue investigating the case.
Natallia Vishnevskaya, 26; Nadezda Nikitina, 23; and 69-year-old Susan Ghardashyan each faced up to 30 years in prison if they had been convicted of the charges that included bank fraud and submitting a false and fraudulent application.
Bank-fraud charges were dropped against Seda Sahakyan, Vahe Ghazarov and Viorica Banuh.
“The cases have been dismissed for the moment,” said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Colorado. “The decision was made to dismiss the cases to aid the ongoing investigation.”
Prosecutors say the purported ring operated a scam using credit lines to obtain loans and products with no intention of repaying the money.
Purchases included luxury vehicles bought from an Aurora auto dealership, Maaliki Motors, which was searched by federal agents on Aug. 14.
The same day, agents searched CannaMed, a medical-marijuana dispensary on Leetsdale Drive in Denver. But medical marijuana was not the focus of the search or the probe, authorities said.
In affidavits, agents wrote that 700 people were involved in the Denver-based scheme run by Russian immigrants, with losses topping $80 million.
Felisa Cardona: 303-954-1219| or fcardona@denverpost.com
