News

A court has found the evidence gathered by the Siberian Federal District Investigations Directorate of Russia’s Investigative Committee sufficient to convict former mayor of the town of Bratsk, Irkutsk Region Alexander Serov. He was found guilty of a crime under paragraphs “c, d” of part 4 of article 290 of RF Criminal Code (bribe-taking).

The investigators and the court have found that from August 2010 to February 2011 Serov extorted from a businessman in Bratsk a bribe of 15 million rubles for assistance in developing the briber’s companies operating in the area of housing and public utilities. In case the businessman refused to give money, as investigators believe, the official threatened to refuse renting municipal property which was necessary for activity of these companies, including a landfill for solid domestic waste. The accused received more than 5 million rubles in several stages and was arrested while receiving another part of the bribe.

During the detention Serov locked himself up in his flat and tried to get rid of the evidence by burning the money he had received as the bribe and throwing it through a window outside.

The court sentenced Serov to 5 years and 6 months in a maximum-security penal colony.