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Crimean Anti-Monopoly Official Found Dead

Timofey Kurayev (r) / Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS

The head of Russia’s Anti-Monopoly Service in Crimea and Sevastopol has been found dead, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday.

Timofey Kurayev committed suicide in his home on Tuesday, the pro-Kremlin Kryminform news site reported, according to a source in law enforcement.

A videotaped statement from Kurayev was found and is being studied by police, the state-run TASS news agency reported Wednesday. An anonymous police source told the news agency that suicide was being investigated as the most likely cause of death.

Kurayev, 44, formerly worked in the Interior Ministry and headed the anti-monopoly service in Crimea since 2014.

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