Russia's Investigative Committee has pressed charges against a debt collection agency employee in the city of Petrozavodsk who threatened to blow up a kindergarten in order to recover money from a borrower.
The debt collector faces one count of "vigilantism" and one count of "knowingly giving false information about a terrorist attack," the Interfax news agency reported.
The incident in question occurred on April 21, when the suspect was attempting to collect 65,000 rubles ($1,000) from a woman in Petrozavodsk. The man allegedly made 38 phone calls to the kindergarten where the woman worked, threatening to carry out a terrorist attack against her employer. All students and faculty of the kindergarten were evacuated, but a search of the premises revealed no explosive device.
During the investigation, law enforcement discovered that the suspect was living in Novosibirsk, where he was detained by local police and sent to Petrozavodsk, where he was arrested.
The incident is one of several high profile cases in recent years involving debt collectors using violence in order to recover money from borrowers. In June 2016, the State Duma passed legislation to restrict the usage of debt collectors.
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