Authorities in the Chelyabinsk region said Thursday that law enforcement arrested a deputy governor following allegations that he accepted bribes during his time as mayor of the city of Kopeysk.
“Deputy Governor Andrei Faleychik was arrested this morning,” regional Governor Alexei Teksler wrote on Telegram. “The investigation is connected to his previous position as Kopeysk mayor.”
The Interfax news agency, citing law enforcement sources, reported that officers from Russia’s FSB security service and criminal investigators arrested Faleychik on allegations that he accepted a large bribe in exchange for transferring the ownership of a publicly owned children’s camp to a local businessman.
Faleychik served as mayor of Kopeysk between 2019 and 2023. He was later appointed as deputy governor in the Chelyabinsk region.
Local media identified the businessman implicated in the corruption scandal as Mikhail Bleyzer. He reportedly bribed Faleychik through two intermediaries who worked as deputy mayors in Kopeysk at the time.
Both of those deputies were said to have been arrested as well.
Faleychik is at least the 12th regional official in Chelyabinsk to face arrest over the past year. Others include a former deputy governor, three ministers and other administration officials, as well as top managers at government agencies.
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