A citizen of Estonia and a young woman from Ukraine were sentenced to five years in prison each for swindles committed in Moldova, using the well-known "relative involved in the accident" telephone scheme. After they serve their sentences, both convicts will be expelled from Moldova and sent to their countries of origin, IPN reports.

According to the Chisinau Prosecutor's Office, the two were part of an organized group, along with other unidentified persons, who contacted potential victims by phone. Under the pretext that a close relative was involved in a road accident, the scammers were asking for large sums of money to "solve the situation".

The 20-year-old Estonian defrauded a woman of about €3,000 euros, and a man of 120,000 lei.

The 24-year-old Ukrainian woman was caught red-handed after a man, who understood that it was an attempted fraud, alerted the authorities. The woman asked for €10,000 from the victim.

The court sentenced the young man to five years in a semi-closed prison. He was banned from managing the property of other persons for three years and obliged to pay 227,000 lei in compensation to the injured parties.

The young woman got five years in a semi-closed prison and a fine of 250,000 lei.

According to the authorities, during the investigation the man admitted his guilt, while the woman rejected the accusations.

The sentences are not final and can be appealed within 15 days.