MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th December, 2020) Over 2 billion rubles ($27.06 million) were collected from people who engaged in corruption crimes in Russia in 2020, and their property worth a total of over 8 billion rubles was arrested, Russian Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin told Sputnik in an interview on the eve of the International Anti-Corruption Day.
The International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated annually on December 9. On this day, UN member states raise public awareness of corruption and report on the implemented measures.
"During investigation, damage worth over 2.3 billion rubles was repaid and defendants' property worth 8.137 billion rubles was arrested," Bastrykin said.
The amount of "voluntarily reimbursed, confiscated and seized" property covers "almost 80 percent" of the damage caused by corruption crimes, the Investigative Committee chief went on to say.
According to Bastrykin, almost 34 billion rubles have been reimbursed to the state and victims of corruption crimes since 2011.
"We investigated 15,861 corruption crimes with 7,420 defendants [in 2020]," Bastrykin added.
Bastrykin also told Sputnik that 15,217 criminal proceedings on suspicion of corruption were undertaken in Russia in 2020, which is a 4 percent increase compared to the previous year. The head of the Russian Investigative Committee qualified corruption as a transnational problem undermining trust in governments, and making countries less attractive for investors, therefore affecting the socioeconomic growth.
