The former head of a department of Russia’s environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor has been accused of accepting more than 14 million roubles in bribe.
A investigator has ascertained that the Rosprirodnadzor official allegedly accepted a 90,000 Euro bribe at a Moscow restaurant in August 2010 in exchange for arranging an inspection.
After carrying out the inspection and holding the commercial firm’s executives administratively liable, sanctions were imposed for uncovered violations of environmental protection laws. The Rosprirodnadzor official and his accomplices allegedly received 11.8 million rubles more in return for cutting the sum of the imposed fine. The money was then allegedly split into two equal payments and transferred to an account of an affiliated firm where it was cashed.
The police are currently taking steps to identify the identities of and detain other accomplices involved in the alleged crime. The commercial firm’s employee who is suspected of acting as a middleman and receiving a portion of the illicit funds has been placed on the wanted list.
