RTFri, 08 Dec 2017 12:57 UTC
© Global Look Press
The head of the Russian Investigative Committee has revealed the latest statistics on corruption crime, which show that most cases involve law-enforcement agents, military servicemen, municipal clerks, teachers and doctors.
"Representatives of law-enforcement agencies, officials from municipal bodies and enterprises, people working in the spheres of education and healthcare, and also the military," said Aleksandr Bastrykin, listing the professions most often involved in cases of corruption.
In an interview with
Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the chairman of Russian federal agency that deals with
high-profile crimes said that there were currently more than 7,000 people facing corruption charges. Of these, 845 worked for the Interior Ministry, 571 occupied posts in state and municipal bodies, 490 were military servicemen, 227 worked in science and education, and 221 worked in healthcare."Another 400 suspects are people to whom we had to apply a special mode of criminal trial. These used to work as prosecutors, judges, investigators, legal attorneys and the like. Some of them are quite senior officials, I don't think that it makes sense to name them all, as we know their names from mass media," Bastrykin added.
Russia was hit by several major corruption scandals in 2016. Among them was
the arrest of Economy Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev on suspicion of taking a $2-million bribe from the CEO of the state-owned oil giant Rosneft. Also in 2016, investigators detained several top officials from the anti-corruption directorate of the Interior Ministry, following an incident in which they found
over $122 million in cash in an apartment linked to one of the officials.
Comment: After Ulyukayev's arrest, Russian
markets saw a boost for the ruble and Russian stocks (coinciding with the Trump-Putin call as well as a slight recovery in oil prices).
Russian officials
commented on the scandal: The head of the upper house's International Relations Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, pointed out that bribery is becoming "Russian roulette" in Russian business and politics. As it should be, and thanks to Putin's anti-corruption push for the last several years. State Duma MP and former Chief Prosecutor of Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya wrote on Facebook:
The detention of a civil servant of the highest rank is yet another confirmation of the official position of our state: there are no 'untouchables' in Russia. Everyone who chooses a criminal path must understand that sooner or later everything that is hidden will become public.
At the same time, these officials cautioned against hasty conclusions, adding that that's the courts' job.
A court has ordered Ulyukayev to be placed under house arrest, and Putin has
dismissed him from his position. He was questioned today for five hours, but has not pled guilty and has refused to provide testimony. His lawyers say he was framed. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of a fine 80-100x what he took as a bribe, and will lose the right to serve in government for up to 15 years. Either that, or a slightly smaller fine and 8-15 years in jail.
See article:
Russian economy minister caught taking $2mn bribe from oil giant Rosneft
Comment: After Ulyukayev's arrest, Russian markets saw a boost for the ruble and Russian stocks (coinciding with the Trump-Putin call as well as a slight recovery in oil prices).
Russian officials commented on the scandal: The head of the upper house's International Relations Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, pointed out that bribery is becoming "Russian roulette" in Russian business and politics. As it should be, and thanks to Putin's anti-corruption push for the last several years. State Duma MP and former Chief Prosecutor of Crimea Natalya Poklonskaya wrote on Facebook: At the same time, these officials cautioned against hasty conclusions, adding that that's the courts' job.
A court has ordered Ulyukayev to be placed under house arrest, and Putin has dismissed him from his position. He was questioned today for five hours, but has not pled guilty and has refused to provide testimony. His lawyers say he was framed. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of a fine 80-100x what he took as a bribe, and will lose the right to serve in government for up to 15 years. Either that, or a slightly smaller fine and 8-15 years in jail.
See article: Russian economy minister caught taking $2mn bribe from oil giant Rosneft