A Moscow court on Monday found Col. Dmitry Zakharchenko, the former acting head of the Interior Ministry's main directorate for economic security and countering corruption, guilty on charges of taking large brides and obstructing justice, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2019) A Moscow court on Monday found Col. Dmitry Zakharchenko, the former acting head of the Interior Ministry's main directorate for economic security and countering corruption, guilty on charges of taking large brides and obstructing justice, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.The Zakharchenko case rocked Russia in 2016, when the colonel was arrested on charges of bribery and abuse of power. Police conducted searches in his apartment and found tens of millions of Dollars in various currencies.
The court found that Zakharchenko, along with other people, accepted an $800,000 bribe from restaurant owner Mehdi Douss. According to court documents, Douss gave Zakharchenko a restaurant discount card which allowed the colonel to save over $46,000.
In addition, the court found out that Zakharchenko "committed actions to obstruct the investigation" as he informed the management of Nota-Bank, which was probed as part of the criminal proceedings, of upcoming searches back in 2016.
The prosecution demands that Zakharchenko be sentenced to 15.5 years in prison and issued a fine $7.6 million. Zakharchenko has meanwhile maintained his innocence.
