Officers of Yekaterinburg Customs inspected one of local fur-selling companies in November 2007. The inspection revealed that the company had smuggled forty-six Chinese mink coats worth 718,000 RUR to Russia. The coats were bought on Moscow’s trade markets; besides, the Moscow suppliers provided the local company with some forged documents that confirmed the alleged customs procedure had taken place.

As a result, the local fur-dealer had to pay 216,200 RUR to make up for the customs duties it never paid; the fictitious documents have been placed with Moscow’s law-enforcement agencies, the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration reports.