vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #614 / Crime watch / Reading article...

The head of the Alcohol Trade Licensing Department for the regional administration Leonid Beltyukov on April 3 was detained by police on charges of accepting a bribe. Two days later Beltyukov was placed under arrest.

The investigators said Beltyukov was detained in his office with ‘marked money’ which he supposedly received via his secretary. The prosecutors did not reveal the sum of the money which they marked to make a bribe, but according to sources close to the investigation the sum of the bribe was 5,000 rubles ($200). Beltyukov’s secretary was detained with him as a possible accomplice in the criminal group.

On Saturday the Leninsky court ruled that the two detained suspects should be held in isolation wards. Beltyukov is facing charges of abusing his official position by accepting a bribe via another person, which is classified as group actions. If convicted, Beltyukov may be forced to pay a large sum and face imprisonment for up to five years. The fate of his secretary so far remains unclear.