[Alina] He introduced himself as Igor Belov
[Alina] He said he lived in St. Petersburg and came here
to build estates in Volgograd
[Aleksandra] The name on the paper was Ivan Makeev
[Aleksandra] Well, we dated
[Aleksandra] We were kind of building a relationship
[Aleksandra] We slept together
[Victim] We met on a dating site
[Victim] The self-preservation instinct kicks in,
but, at that time, it seemed to be dormant
MARRIAGE SCAMMER: TILL CASH DO US PART
[Alina Milennaya, Victim]
[Alina] My name is Alina Milennaya
[Alina] I was born in Elista, in the Kalmykia Republic
[Alina] I now live in the hero city of Volgograd
[Alina] I was married
[Alina] I met my husband when I was 18
[Alina] We lived together until we were 28, so we were together for 10 years
[Alina] Then we got divorced
[Alina] Then, when I was 32, I...
decided I needed a family
[Alina] I wanted to have a baby
[Alina] I wanted to be married again
[Alina] I wanted to build a family
[Alina] In 2020,
I met Dmitry Frolov on a dating website
DRAMATIC REENACTMENT
You're an expert!
[Alina] He introduced himself as Igor Belov and courted me
[Alina] He'd pick me up from work, sometimes send me flowers,
and he kept asking where there were fishing lodges in Volgograd
that he could go to because he was an avid fisherman
FOOTAGE FROM ALINA MILENNAYA'S ARCHIVE
[Dmitry] Lost it
[Dmitry] Wait for it
[Alina] Hurrah!
[Alina] We got one!
[Alina] When the quarantine was announced, I was very worried
[Alina] I was scared, he'd say, 'Alina, you have nothing to fear,
[Alina] I really want us to get a lot closer
[Alina] I'll always help you, I'll be your rock'
[Alina] He knew that I have a daughter, Eva
[Alina] He rented a house near the Volga
[Alina] That's the house where we lived with Frolov
[Alina] That's the second one
[Alina] We had barbecues here...
often!
[Alina] We lived here with Frolov for three months
[Alina] At that time, he won me over
with his gallantry and sensitivity
[Alina] We had a really great time together
[Alina] I like to have breakfast listening to classical music
[Alina] He was OK with that too
[Alina] I realised that I wanted to live and be with a trustworthy man
like the one he seemed to be at the time
[Alina] He's very...
[Alina] He mirrors you
[Alina] So, if you're happy and upbeat, if you're kind and caring, he acts...
the same way
[Alina] In my case, he was a kind of...
[Alina] a prince charming, like a good and decent man
[Alina] But hearing other stories,
[Alina] I see he was always different, adapting to each situation
[Elena Esilevaskaya, Psycologist, Expert, witness for linguistics] We often hear about the 'IQ'...
'intelligence quotient'
[Elena] Lately, we've heard of EQ, the 'emotional quotient'
[Elena] What is EQ? It's a person's ability to interact with others
[Elena] To instantly...
instantly read...
another person, and adapt to their speech and behaviour pattern
[Elena] And they instantly figure out how they should talk to you to get their way
PRE-TRIAL DETENTION CENTRE NO. 6 SAINT PETERSBURG
[Dmitry Frolov, Marriage Scammer]
[Dmitry] Dmitry Frolov, 43 years old
[Dmitry] I was born near Moscow
Do you have a kind of secret?
How do you know how to win girls over?
[Dmitry] You want to know every detail?
[Dmitry] You meet a person through a dating site
[Dmitry] You agree on a date, you show up for it
[Dmitry] Naturally, I'd go in a car worth $100,000 to $200,000, or more
[Dmitry] I bring hot coffee
[Man] Your coffee!
[Woman] Hi! I didn't recognise you! [Man] I did you!
[Dmitry] You strike up a chat there on the street,
no need for cafes or restaurants
[Dmitry] Right on the car boot or something
[Tatyana Krushchyova, Expert Witness For Clinical Psychology]
[Tatyana] A marriage scammer is very charismatic
[Tatyana] Even if he's not handsome,
he has a charisma that attracts women
[Tatyana] He has good communication skills, very good, and that's what he uses
[Woman] A dog, so cute! [Man] Yes
[GEO] Moscow
[Aleksandra Peskova, Victim]
[Aleksandra] I met him in Kolchugino, where I have a house
[Aleksandra] I quit my job in 2017. I'm now a chief accountant
[Aleksandra] Then, I was just an accountant, and the owners weren't happy with me,
but I did a good job, so they paid me a 2-month severance package
[Aleksandra] I had money and a house that needed renovation, so I got to work on that
[Aleksandra] And, naturally, we met at a hardware store
[Aleksandra] I was in the shop by myself, going about my business,
and I saw a man like a maniac in a cap
[Aleksandra] Then I went to my car, which was parked outside the store,
and someone came up and tapped my shoulder, 'Miss, may I help?'
[Man] May I? [Woman] Oh, my God!
[Man] Am I that scary?
[Aleksandra] I looked at that hand, and I...
for the first time in my life, a bodily reaction, I remember feeling that...
sensation in the pit of my stomach, a bit like...
[Aleksandra] I often wondered: 'What was that?'
[Man] What's your name?
[Woman] And yours?
[Aleksandra] I looked at him and saw nothing
to cause that reaction in me
[Aleksandra] As a gesture of gratitude, I offered him a lift,
as he'd come by cab
[Aleksandra] I drove him to the house where he was living,
and, on the way, we got talking
[Aleksandra] About our ages...
[Aleksandra] I said, I was 44, as I was at the time
[Aleksandra] He said he didn't believe it, maybe he was just pretending
[Aleksandra] 'How old do you think I am?' '36-38,' I was right
[Aleksandra] He asked, 'Are you married?' Questions like that, 'I'm single too...
[Aleksandra] Let's keep going, what do you do?' I said I'd quit
[Aleksandra] And all that time, I don't know...
[Aleksandra] I didn't believe he was Ivan. I asked to see some ID,
but I didn't see any documents
[Dmitry] When the officers came to me,
to arrest me, right?
[Dmitry] They called me 'Dmitry'
[Dmitry] It was the first time I'd heard my real name in many years
[Dmitry] I was slightly in shock, actually
[Dmitry] I'll can tell you, it's hard
[Dmitry] Living under a false name is very hard
[Dmitry] I mean...
[Dmitry] Constantly thinking someone will recognise you,
that you'll be exposed, or some other mess
[GEO] St. Petersburg
[Victim] I don't want to show my face, I have elderly parents who...
[Victim] Well, they might not survive this, knowing my mum...
[Victim] In February, I officially got divorced
[Victim] And late in February I met and got to know Frolov
[Victim] After divorce, all women probably think they're a little...
[Victim] Well, how can I put it? Damaged goods, you think you're unworthy
[Victim] Now you're left with a child and no one wants you
[Victim] So when you get a man's attention, who seems so determined...
[Victim] You start to feel a bit differently about yourself
[Victim] So, of course, I wanted a man by my side who'd be there for me
[Victim] We met on a dating site
[Victim] It all happened very quickly. He came over one evening,
we had dinner, he played with my child
[Victim] The next day, first thing in the morning, he started texting:
'Let's sell your car and buy a new one'
[Victim] I said: 'What do you mean, new car? I can't afford a new one'
[Victim] I mean, at that point, I was still aware and thinking straight
[Victim] After talking to him, I felt like I had a foggy mind, I realised that...
not that I'd been hypnotised...
[Victim] It was like I'd been brainwashed
[Victim] He'd send me photographs of cars. 'Get one like this, or this...'
[Victim] 'Why do you, a girl, drive a stick? It's easier to drive an automatic!'
DRAMATIC REENACTMENT
[Man 1] Hello! [Man 2] You're selling?
[Man] Yes, here she is, our beauty!
[Victim] In the end, the car was sold for $6,000,
literally in maybe an hour or an hour and a half,
[Victim] Dmitry arrived in what I think was a rented car:
a white Porsche Panamera
[Man 1] A good car
[Man 2] Great
[Victim] The buyer gave him the money to count
[Man] That's it, thank you!
[Man] Ira, let's go
[Man] I'll grab some coffee, I'll be right back
[Victim] Dmitry, though he'd said he was Aleksandr,
said he'd dash to buy juice or a drink for the trip, and would be back
[Victim] I got near my house and realised he still had the money
[Victim] An hour passed
[Victim] I kept texting on Telegram
[Victim] I called but no answer
[Victim] Then he deleted our messages and blocked me
[Victim] After that, I immediately called the police
[Elena] It's like a Rubik's cube: solve it, and you win
[Elena] But for them, the Rubik's cube is a person!
[Elena] They don't have any...
feelings for their victims
[Elena] Don't mistake emotion for feeling
[Elena] He may be emotional, but he has no feelings
[Elena] To him, it's...
a toy puzzle
[Elena] He played with it, solved it, and won
[Elena] That's how he sees people
[Victim] By then, we'd known each other for two days
[Victim] The detective arrived, a young guy
[Victim] He told me: 'You're not the 1st, but the 300th'
[Victim] And when he said I was the 300th, that was it!
[Victim] I totally freaked out
[Voice] Reports cite figures of about 300 people, 300 deceived women
[Voice] Was it more, fewer, or was it all lies?
[Voice] Or you think it's an understatement?
[Dmitry] No, I believe that was said for effect
[Dmitry] It's a lie
[Dmitry] I had no more than 30 to 35 episodes
[Dmitry] It would take a, I don't know...
[Dmitry] Superman, I guess, to manage even...
to talk to so many people
[Ksenia Frolov doesn't know the surnames of his victims
[Ksenia Grigoryeva, Captain of Justice, Organised Crime Investigator, Russian Interior Ministry]
[Ksenia] He only recalls women by their first names and other details:
the city, the time period,
what kind of car she had
[Ksenia] So, to say that 35 is the final count of his crimes...
[Ksenia] We can't do that yet
[Alina] I might cry
[Alina] It still hurts to think about it
[Alina] OK, now I'm crying
[Alina] I always do when I think of the pain
that Frolov caused, but probably it will stay with me for the rest of my life
[Alina] Frolov... well at that time, I knew him as Igor Belov...
[Alina] He proposed to me
[Alina] And...
[Alina] For all the three months I lived with him, he...
made it seem like he was working
[Alina] He called...
he often called...
[Alina] Vladimir
[Alina] He wanted to buy a campsite in Astrakhan from him
[Alina] Supposedly, he did
DRAMATIC REENACTMENT
[Alina] He said that Astrakhan was the best place to go fishing
[Alina] He'd say, 'Alina, I want to combine...
two happy events in my life:
buying the campsite and our wedding'
[Alina] He insisted that my car, a Tiguan...
it was new, out of the showroom...
wasn't right for me
[Alina] He said it was an outdated model,
and then he said, 'I want my woman to drive a BMW!
[Alina] Let's sell your car'
[Alina] So, I agreed
[Alina] The money I got from selling the car...
[Alina] I put it in a safe in the house where we were staying
[Alina] Then he started saying, 'Alina, your flat...
[Alina] It's good but I don't like that it's on the ground floor'
[Alina] That's my flat...
my former bedroom windows
[GEO] Volgograd
[Alina] Such a nice brick building
[Alina] Frolov said that it was dangerous due to the gas,
and being on the ground floor reduced its value
[Alina] A three-room flat
[Alina] I'd carried out a very nice, well thought-out renovation
[Alina] But nevertheless, I sold the flat
[Alina] And I made the same mistake:
I didn't put the money in the bank, in a safe deposit box
[Alina] Again, I put it in the safe where we lived
[Alina] Then he said that, purportedly, his brother and his family
wanted to come to Astrakhan
to celebrate the holiday and, of course, to meet me
DMITRY FROLOV'S VOICE
[Dmitry] Tomorrow morning, we'll go in a helicopter
[Dmitry] We'll be flown there
[Dmitry] So...
now I'm going out of town to meet and talk to someone
[Dmitry] I need to talk about work and, keep in mind, I don't know if I'll have signal
[Alina] I went with my mum and Evochka to Astrakhan
[Alina] Vladimir was waiting for us
[Alina] He had his own plans
[Alina] Frolov had an agreement with him that waiters would come,
lay the table nicely,
and make a beautiful wedding arch
[Alina] I remember they were supposed to arrive at 3 pm
[Alina] Yeah. Then, it was 4 pm, 5 pm… Vladimir is sitting there with me,
my mum, and Evochka, the waiters are standing round
[Alina] The tables have been laid
[Alina] They ask when to serve the dishes,
but, ultimately...
[Alina] Frolov never arrived
[Alina] At that moment, something clicked in my brain
[Alina] I said, 'We're going to Volgograd right now'
[Alina] When we arrived, the girl who'd helped around the house was there
[Alina] She told us that Frolov had entered the room where the safe was...
and took the money
[Alina] The rubber bands that had wrapped the money were laying around
[Alina] He took a bag...
got into a car and left
[Alina] From that moment on, of course...
a whole new reality began
[Alina] My house and my car were taken from me
[Alina] We were simply humiliated, somehow disposable
[Alina] The total damage Frolov caused me is around $66,000
[Dmitry] Listen, that story… it wasn't like that at all
[Voice] Have you talked to her? [Dmitry] Yes
[Dmitry] I took it, sure. I took some amount of money
[Dmitry] I don't deny it. I'm certain that the amount stated is wrong
[Dmitry] But even...
if it were more than I took, I'd admit it
[Voice] Why? [Dmitry] I don't want to offend people
[Alina] I thought: 'What am I to do now? How do I live on?'
[Alina] My first thought, when I came to this house, I'd come to the Volga
[Alina] Of course, I was suicidal: I didn't want to live anymore,
thinking how this could be? I'd been working so hard for so many years...
creating my beautiful life. And this person just intruded,
took everything...
left me with nothing...
and just vanished
FOOTAGE FROM THE ALINA MILENNAYA'S ARCHIVE
[Alina] You have killed me...
you've killed the child - Eva
[Alina] You've destroyed everything...
that was good about my life
[Alina] Be happy. I loved you sincerely,
appreciated you. And I still think you're the smartest man. Be happy!
[Alina] I came here to the Volga. I even had thoughts of...
[Alina] But I was sitting there, thinking that
there's probably good luck and bad luck in life,
and that I must get justice,
and that good overcomes evil,
and in this situation...
I'd be victorious
[Elena] Why don't women want to believe that he's a fraud?
[Elena] It's a mystery
[Elena] They'll catch him and convict him
[Elena] She understands she's given him a lot of money
[Elena] She believes in him. Why?
[Elena] As specialists say, rupturing a stereotype is the most painful process
[Elena] To preserve the stereotype, she'd best give him money
[Elena] It's how frauds work
[Tatyana] There are frauds who impersonate pilots, retired generals,
who say they have a family, a mother, a father, grandparents,
who live far away, who he helps
[Tatyana] What else do they use? They like to say, 'I lost my job
[Tatyana] I used to be a top manager at 'Lukoil' or 'Gazprom Neft',
but I got fired yesterday. Can you believe it?
[Tatyana] I'll give you back the money, I promise. But I need it badly right now'
[Tatyana] So, he asks to borrow money. It's also what marriage scammers do
[Tatyana] And so, notice that he asks for a loan from a person
he met only recently
[VO] Some stories are striking in their cynicism and cruelty.
[VO] For example, journalists in Nizhny Novgorod,
wrote about a rapper Andrey Dyogtev
who scammed a seriously ill girl.
[Newsanchor] Andrey Dyogtev, 26, met Marina Soldatova on social media
[Newsanchor] She suffers from a severe blood disease, which means her organs
don't get enough oxygen. She's had a stroke and suffers memory loss
[Newsanchor] Dyogtev dazzled her. He said he was a musician, and in 5 days,
he borrowed $11,000 in her name
from banks and other sources
[Marina] He texted me: 'Hi, how are you doing?'
[Marina] The next day, he wanted to meet me
[Marina] We… I told him, 'OK, let's meet.' At first, I found him nice
[Marina] He was polite. He told me he made music
[Olga Kuklina, Marina Soldatova's Mother] My daughter took out loans in four banks
[Olga] The first one they took in 'Sberbank'
[Correspondent] How much? [Olga] $2,850. What's more,
it was taken on the day after they met
[Olga] Then loans were taken out up until May 18
[Olga] So, it was all done in the first 5 days of their meeting
[Marina] He called me 'sweetie'
[Marina] He told me that he'd never called anyone that before
[Marina] I don't remember how we got the first loan
[Marina] I don't remember that
[Marina] I don't...
remember anything at all
[Newsanchor] We began to hear from other Dyogtev victims
[Newsanchor] Marina Soldatova was far from the first to be scammed
[Newsanchor] He meets girls online
[Olga Saratova, Victim] It's exactly how he scammed me for almost $11,000
[Olga Saratova] What girl would refuse to meet...
to date a guy who sings?
[Olga Saratova] Such a popular musician. He's...
so cool!
[Newsanchor] We tried to grasp how he could trick a seriously-ill person
[Correspondent] Andrey, talk to us. Please say why you made Marina take out loans
[Correspondent] What for? Why did you take them out?
[Correspondent] Why in her name without her consent?
[Correspondent] Why did you... [Andrey] Who are you?
[Correspondent] Tatyana, correspondent for 'Seti NN' TV
[Correspondent] Tell us, why did you take loans in her name without her consent?
[Correspondent] You knew that... - She told you that?!
[Correspondent] You know she's ill... - What's that got to do with it?
[Correspondent] You knew she had memory issues. You knew…
[Andrey] You've got to listen first… [Correspondent] We want to hear your side
[Correspondent] If you think we're wrong, please tell us your position!
[Correspondent] No, no - The girl is ill
[Correspondent] You knew she had memory issues. Is it a manly thing to do?
[Correspondent] What did you spend the cash on? Andrey, talk to us
[Correspondent] You're a performer, you must love the camera
[Ksenia] Many victims are stuck with loans they're still paying back
from their salaries. For instance, while raising a child alone
[VO] Forensic psychologist Tatyana Krushchyova
recalls one anecdotal case
where a scammer who called himself Yanis
tricked a victim into taking out a 15 million ruble-loan for him.
[Tatyana] He introduced himself as Yanis… What a name to come up with!
[Tatyana] He's Anar Narimanoğlu Isaev. What was his cover story?
[Tatyana] He said that he was from a very rich Greek family
[Tatyana] Yanis' uncle was an influential businessman,
with connections to President Putin and the Central Bank
[Tatyana] A regular high flyer!
[Tatyana] He wants a simple warm-hearted girl, who's ready to marry him,
bear kids, be a housewife, cook borsch, and he'll be the breadwinner
[Tatyana] But there's a big snag. His uncle is against such a relationship
[Tatyana] He wants a well-to-do woman
[Tatyana] So, she just has to prove she has money, she's a woman of means
[Tatyana] To do that, she needs to transfer a small sum - $22,000
[Tatyana] He'd then repay it, proving his sincerity and benevolence
[Tatyana] Ultimately, she took out loans for around $169,000
[Tatyana] All these loans were transferred to Mr. Isaev
[Tatyana] She contemplated suicide. We talked for hours, she was crying
[Tatyana] She had to get it off her chest, how she was preparing to commit suicide,
because she was firstly ashamed
[Tatyana] She realised that she couldn't repay the money
[Tatyana] She declared herself bankrupt. It was very difficult
[Tatyana] Clearly, all these victims have the same core idea:
be happy, get married, and find a rich and successful man
[Tatyana] But they totally lack the power of observation, perception, intuition
and critical thinking,
because the medial prefrontal cortex gets blocked by emotions of love
[Tatyana] Viktoria's happy now. She's going to get married
[Tatyana] She works, she's a doctor
[Voice] Do you remember the first girl? Her name? Hometown?
[Dmitry] No, I don't
[Voice] What got you thinking? Easy money from them?
[Dmitry] Listen, I didn't aim...
to take their money
[Dmitry] They gave the money away themselves. Yes, I needed money
[Dmitry] I asked, and they gave
[Dmitry] Well...
something like that!
[Aleksandra Peskova, Victim] He has a consumer attitude to everyone
[Aleksandra] So, we're all just fair game to prey on
[Aleksandra] He has no sense of morality whatever
[Aleksandra] The reason he didn't cross the line was fear
it would be investigated differently,
like rape and murder. He would've been finished long ago
[Aleksandra] He told me, 'I wouldn't have bought my girl that car'
[Aleksandra] I said, 'I drive a Hyundai Solaris. I'm happy with it, I like it'
[Aleksandra] He always wanted to 'upgrade' my life
[Aleksandra] My car cost $4,800 - he sold it below its market value!
[Aleksandra] That's just what I can confirm
[Aleksandra] As for the rest… he denies it all!
[Aleksandra] Since the beginning of our investigation, Alina and I
have found 15–20 girls,
who fell victim to the marriage scammer Frolov
[Alina] At the moment, we're renting a flat
[Alina] Everyone wants condensed milk
[Alina] After about a period of a year...
[Alina] I'd saved up some money and took out a loan for a car
[Alina] I don't know, I'm hysterical
[Alina] I've been waiting for so long just to fill up my own car
[Alina] No person should be traumatised like that
[Alina] I just want to kneel and tell God, 'Lord, thank you so much!
[Alina] You can't imagine how hard it is!'
[Alina] When I bought a car...
and got in...
[Alina] In every possible way...
[Alina] I cheered up
[Alina] I was telling myself that my luck would turn
[Alina] I had a car already, everything's fine
[Alina] You can take your child to classes - everything will be alright
[Voice] You bought a bigger car deliberately?
[Alina] Yes, on purpose. It was my defence from evil forces!
[Alina] I wanted to...
drive a big...
black car so that...
it'd be my armour
[Alina] If we go to trial, I'd like Aleksandra to be there as well
[Alina] Sashulya, hi! - Hi!
[Alina] Is there any news on Frolov?
[Aleksandra] I'm trying to avoid news, except… Well, I followed it in the background
that his detention was extended. That makes sense
[Aleksandra] Frolov doesn't want to see me. He said he'd do everything he could
to prevent me from coming to the trial
[Aleksandra] I said, 'Even if not in the capacity of a victim, I can still be a witness'
[Aleksandra] So, if someone calls me as a witness in their case, I'll come
[Alina] OK. Nice talking to you, have a good evening
[Aleksandra] You too - Alright, bye, Sashulya!
[Aleksandra] Alina didn't know him, what he'd done, how many he'd harmed
[Aleksandra] You think you're the only woman, but there are so many
[Aleksandra] The point is, among other things, he's not just a marriage swindler,
he's also a fraudster, a thief, and all sorts of things. She was in shock
[Aleksandra] We helped her because, God forbid, she was on the verge of suicide
[Aleksandra] But what about the child, her mum, and everyone else?
[Aleksandra] Who is he anyway? Why should she...
[Aleksandra] I really don't think he's worth it
[Alina] I kept thinking, how could that be?
[Alina] A person came, took everything, and he's impossible to find
[Alina] I did all I could to help by taking part in various shows and programmes
[Alina] I wanted to post information about Frolov everywhere I could
because I thought some other woman in a relationship with Frolov
might see me on TV and call me,
and maybe we could catch this criminal together
[Alina] I wrote letters to the Investigative Committee,
to Aleksandr Bastrykin
I wrote letters to deputies
[Alina] And it turns out that, for 2.5 years, he travelled and toured different cities:
Saratov, Samara, St. Petersburg, Moscow...
[Alina] Since I was Frolov's main accuser,
all the girls who were victims called me afterwards
[Ksenia] We urge all victims to contact their local law enforcement,
file a complaint, and contact us
[Ksenia] Our contact details are public
[Ksenia] We will consolidate the separate criminal cases initiated all over Russia
[Ksenia] Our goal is to gather all the victims and fully assess Frolov's activities,
so he will be punished
[Victim] Is this your balcony? - No, another girl's
[Victim] All these photos are other girls'? - I deleted them all
[Alina] These are all from other girls
[Alina] He's got even fatter since he was with me
[Victim] He always wears sunglasses [Alina] Sunglasses and a cap
[Alina] I've already clearly written out all information about losses
[Alina] One of the last sums reached $98,640:
a girl sold 2 cars for him
[Alina] And it all happened very fast:
in 3 days to a week...
[Alina] So, I was one of his longest relationships
and the only girl he actually lived with
[Tatyana] In 5 days, she takes out a loan for him, and he's gone...
lightning fast
[Tatyana] So, he needs to find the right trigger to put pressure on her in a short time
[Alina] One of the girls ended up in the psychiatric ward
because she couldn't deal with what had happened
[Alina] It was extremely hard and painful for her
[Alina] Many of the girls who went to file a complaint with the police
didn't end up doing it
because they were told:
[Alina] 'You were a fool, you gave it yourself. It's your own fault!'
[Tatyana] The victims, I'll call them that,
who get on the swindler's hook,
are also looking to serve their own self-interests
[Tatyana] Firstly, they want to get married, and, secondly, to a rich man
[Alina] At the end, he thought he could do anything he wanted
because no one was looking for him or doing anything to stop him
[Alina] I'm sure that, with all the little steps I've taken,
[Alina] I've blocked off most of the ways
he used to easily rob people and commit other crimes for 10 years
[Voice] I think it was a girl in St. Petersburg who figured him out
[Alina] Yes, and she also contacted the police
[Victim] I was told that a detective was coming to my house
[Victim] A young man arrived, and I remembered
that Dmitry had left a bottle of cognac here the day before
[Victim] And I realised I could check its history
with a mobile app that tells you whether it's genuine or not
[Victim] I scanned the QR code on the tax stamp
and found out it was purchased at a store here, in Krasnoe Selo
[Victim] I told the detective this and gave him the time and place it was sold
[Victim] In a day or two, they sent me CCTV footage from there
and asked if it was him in the video
[Victim] I said: 'Yes, it's him'
[Victim] We called a lot of car rental places, looking for a white Porsche Panamera
[Victim] And so...
then I sent all this information to the detectives
[Victim] They were already irritated:
they said this was their job, and I should sit and wait
[Victim] Then a female detective called
and asked me to come in for an investigative experiment
[Victim] It turns out he'd been detained, and we went to confront him
[Dmitry] Well, I actually gave up on my own
[Dmitry] I did it voluntarily because I was tired
[Dmitry] Well, I'd just finished a scam and took the money
[Dmitry] I left with the money, picked up all my documents and things,
and went to get a new phone
[Dmitry] I arrived in Moscow and got a call
[Dmitry] I said, 'Yes? How are you? Who is this?'
[Dmitry] A dumb conversation like that
[Dmitry] As it turns out,
they were police officers from the Krasnoselsky Police Department
[Dmitry] They said, 'We're coming for you.' I said, 'OK'
[Dmitry] And they arrived at 2 am
[Ksenia] It wasn't like that at all, Frolov was detained by the police
[Ksenia] He didn't voluntarily turn himself in
DRAMATIC REENACTMENT
[Police] Stand up!
[Police] Hands behind your back!
[Police] All right, go!
AUDIO RECORDING FROM ALINA’S CHAT WITH OTHER VICTIMS OF DMITY FROLOV
[Alina] Girls, they got Frolov!
[Alina] In St. Petersburg, imagine that! He's being held in St. Petersburg
[Police] Date of birth? [Dmitry] June 4, 1980
[Police] Home town? [Dmitry] Aleksandrov, Vladimir Region
[Police] Place of residence? [Dmitry] None
[Police] Why were you detained?
[Dmitry] I fraudulently acquired money from selling a car
[Police] Whose? [Dmitry] Hers
[Police] When did that take place?
[Dmitry] February 24
[Police] Of what year? [Dmitry] 2023
[Police] Do you regret your actions? [Dmitry] Of course
[Police] Do you fully admit your guilt? [Dmitry] Yes
[Police] Where's the money now? [Dmitry] I've spent it
[Police] On what? [Dmitry] My personal needs
[Nikita Ilyin, Head, Federal Detention Center NO.6 St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region]
[Nikita] This man had previously served time in prison
[Nikita] He has certain psychological traits and skills
[Nikita] He gains trust easily
[Nikita] He always talks confidently and never looks away
[Nikita] He's probably got a certain gift of persuasion
[Nikita] Frolov is actively cooperating with the investigation
[Nikita] He's admitted his guilt and confessed
[Nikita] We send all the evidence from pre-trial detention to be checked
[Nikita] In most cases, the information provided by Frolov is confirmed
[Nikita] Based on this info, more cases have been initiated and investigated
[Voice] Are there any cases that you're still ashamed about?
[Dmitry Frolov, Marriage Scammer]
[Dmitry] I'm ashamed of all of them
[Dmitry] I'm really ashamed of my past life
[Dmitry] I basically didn't realise the value of life
[Dmitry] So, the years passed, but I didn't recognise that
[Dmitry] Now, I understand that half my life is already behind me,
and I've lived it badly
[Dmitry] I want a family,
and I hope I'll still be able to create a normal family,
have children, and take care of them
[Dmitry] A year ago, I came to the decision:
'Enough is enough! It's time to unravel this tangle of lies'
[Dmitry] That may sound cliche, but that's besides the point
[Dmitry] It's time to end all this and start a normal life already
[Dmitry] Just an ordinary life, nothing more
[Dmitry] My life's dream was to be a trucker
[Dmitry] Why not do it now?
[Dmitry] Or something else?
[Dmitry] The main point of our Criminal Code is to get people to change
[Dmitry] But when they do this, whether it's before or after punishment
doesn't matter
[Dmitry] I'm trying to earn money and return it all before the final hearing,
so the court sees this...
so they can see I paid my debt to these people
and was no longer a danger
[Aleksandra Peskova, Victim] I don't believe he can change in any way,
or that prison can change him: a tiger can't change his stripes
[Alina] And he's not even lying, he seems to believe whatever he says
[Alina] He misleads you
[Alina] He has his own reality that he basically creates
[Elena Esilevaskaya, Psychologist, Expert, witness for linguistics] This isn't exactly a lie as we understand it
[Elena] What's a lie?
[Elena] It's when a person knows they're lying
[Elena] Right? When they don't believe what they're saying, that's a lie
[Elena] He's not lying
[Elena] It's not a lie, he's sincere
[Elena] He believes it because he's speaking in a different plane
[Elena] Today, he may believe...
he wants a home and family, but then something will click,
and tomorrow he'll go back to his old ways
[Elena] They're adrenaline junkies
[Elena] They need to constantly feel these sharp emotions
[Elena] He couldn't live at home with a wife and kids playing with blocks
[Elena] It's not interesting for him
[Correspondent] Do you want to meet him to say something to him?
[Victim] No, what for? What would I say?
[Victim] As I understand, he tells everyone he'll return the money...
that he's a good man who's done no wrong
[Ksenia] In his police statements,
Frolov says he intends to compensate everyone,
but the preliminary investigation found he'd taken no steps to do so
[Alina] I found out Dmitry Frolov will be tried in St. Petersburg,
so I decided to fly there to tell him in person that no one can wrong me
[Alina] Well, Frolov... See you soon?
FOOTAGE FROM THE ALEKSANDRA PESKOVA'S ARCHIVE
[Aleksandra] Hi, everyone!
[Aleksandra] I've arrived at Pulkovo airport
to see how our Frolov miraculously acknowledges everything
and comes to terms with it
[Aleksandra] I want to be a witness to this miracle
[Aleksandra] Did you see the cage he came in?
[Aleksandra] It's beautiful! Just like a coffin or a lift…
even smaller than a lift
[Aleksandra] And there are holes that they close
[Aleksandra] And guards next to him...
[Aleksandra] It's beautiful! I'd like to meet him like that
[Aleksandra] That would be great
[Alina] What was all of this for?
[Alina] To change the life of a person who was free...
to this? This is what he's chosen for himself
[Alina] It's... Just why?
[Alina] Frolov, what have you…?
[Aleksandra] Here, they're bringing him in and taking off his handcuffs
[Aleksandra] Like a rabid dog being fed in an enclosure
[Aleksandra] Looks like the judge is just like us
[Aleksandra] Good! She won't take his side
[Judge] ...to extend the detention of the accused, Dmitry Frolov,
born on June 4, 1980,
for 1 month and 1 day, up to 2 months and 25 days
to prevent him from evading...
[Aleksandra] He's being arrested so he can't hide
[Aleksandra] That's the right thing to do [Alina] Of course
[Alina] You know, I think it's good that we didn't get into the courtroom
[Alina] because... [Aleksandra] I agree
[Alina] This is all for the best
[Alina] Even now, watching all this, my hands are shaking
[Alina] This situation is really creeping me out
[Alina] He's still hiding [Aleksandra] Yes!
[Alina] He's hiding his face in case someone else remembers him,
sees him, and finds out... because there are many more victims
[Alina] The court has adjourned
[Alina] I wonder... He's sitting there... [Aleksandra] He's still floundering and resisting
[Alina] I've got something to say to you, Frolov
[Alina] If there's anything good left in you, do your job to the end
[Alina] Everything you promised to return to your victims, whether for fame
or because you want to look good before an audience,
before other women and your son...
[Alina] Give back everything you took from me, my child,
and all the other women you've harmed
[Alina] The most important thing for a person is their core, their dignity
[Alina] Even when brought to the very bottom, like he did to me...
[Alina] He broke me into pieces
[Alina] Thank God, I kept my dignity
[Alina] I got on my feet and continued to live my life with dignity as usual