vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #609 / Crime watch / Reading article...

Vladivostok’s garrison court started hearings on Monday in the case of a senior officer who extorted money from cadets in the city’s Pacific Naval Institute of Admiral Makarov for several years, a statement from Pacific Fleet’s Prosecutor’s Office said.

The investigation proved that the officer, whose name is not disclosed, forced the cadets to pay him small sums of money from their contract wages. The sums varied from 600 rubles to 1,200 rubles (from $25 to $50) a person per month, the statement said.

Some 150 cadets might have suffered from the officer’s unlawful practices. The investigation showed that the officer also extorted money from the cadets’ parents.

The officer has been charged with swindling, abuse of power and bribery, crimes that could lead to a prison sentence of four to six years.