5 October, Vitebsk /Sergey Kochetov - BELTA/. The illegal activities of a local resident who specialised in electronic money exchange have been suppressed in Vitebsk. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the press centre of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties Inspectorate for the Vitebsk Region. During control measures, tax officials drew attention to an active Vitebsk resident who exchanged "Webmoney" electronic currency for citizens via the Internet and bank cards. It was discovered that the man conducted financial transactions without registering as an individual entrepreneur, and the bank payment cards were issued to straw individuals. The audit established that from the end of 2008 to 2010 inclusive, the citizen illegally earned over Br83 million. Following the control measures, the Department of Financial Investigations of the State Control Committee for the Vitebsk Region initiated a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 233 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (illegal entrepreneurial activity). In total, from January to August, the region's tax authorities uncovered over 1,000 instances of unregistered entrepreneurial activity. Almost 360 offenders were brought to administrative responsibility, with the total amount of fines exceeding Br85 million. In addition, over 600 citizens, who were first noticed by the tax authorities for engaging in unregistered activities, received warnings about administrative responsibility in case of repeated violation of legislation. Following the inspections, goods and illegally obtained income amounting to over Br950 million were seized. -0-

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