A senior investigator was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of soliciting a $15 million bribe from the head of Rosenergomash, a leading electrical engineering manufacturer, the Investigative Committee said.
Andrei Grivtsov, who is in charge of “particularly important cases” for the central investigation department of the Investigative Committee, is accused of demanding the money in exchange for not opening a criminal investigation into Rosenergomash president Vladimir Palikhata, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said.
A suspected associate of Grivtsov, Sergei Karimov, was detained Thursday as he tried to collect a $8 million first installment of the bribe at Interkommertsbank, Markin said. “According to investigators, he played the role of mediator,” Markin told Interfax. “The money was for … Andrei Grivtsov.”
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has sanctioned the arrest of Grivtsov and Karimov, who is unemployed. The two men face charges of attempted large-scale extortion and could spend up to 12 years in prison if convicted.
Investigators may also bring charges against a Moscow police officer and a former Moscow prosecutor who is now working as a lawyer, Markin said.
The suspects were detained due to the efforts of Rosenergomash’s security department, the Investigative Committee and the Interior Ministry, he said.