vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #617 / Crime watch / Reading article...

Three cases have recently been launched by Primorye’s prosecutors against staff members of marriage registration offices on charges of office abuse and accepting bribes.

Investigators for Primorye prosecutor’s office are probing into the case of the head of one of Vladivostok’s registration offices who allegedly offered to bless the marriage not on official premises but in one of the city’s cafes. The woman, whose name is not revealed due to investigation reasons, offered to perform the marriage registration for 10,000 rubles ($500). The groom and his bride agreed to pay the bribe.

Investigators stress that current legislation strictly limits the number of cases when the couples are permitted to be registered outside the marriage office’s premises. According to them, the accused woman abused her official position aiming to receive a financial reward for her actions thus breaking Russian laws and discrediting the state bodies’ image.

If she is found guilty, the woman may face either a fine reaching 80,000 rubles ($4,500) or receive a stricter sentence of up to four years imprisonment.

Another case of accepting bribes was initiated against an employee of a marriage registration agency in Oktyabrsky County of Primorye. Investigators say that on April 16 the head of the marriage registration department for Oktyabrsky administration, whose name is not revealed, accepted a $200 bribe from the couple requesting to get married on the same day they had submitted the documents.

According to investigators, Russian legislation limits the number of special cases when the registration is performed in such a prompt manner. The accused woman abused her official position by violating the legislation and accepting the bribe, they said. If found guilty, the woman may face up to seven years imprisonment for accepting bribes, the statement from the prosecutor’s office said.

In the third case of the vendetta against marriage office employees, prosecutors decided to punish an acting head of the marriage registration office for Nadezhdinsky County of the Primorye region for disobeying prosecutor’s orders.

The investigators required the woman to provide information for the office, a press statement from Primorye prosecutor’s office said. According to Russian legislation, the documents should be provided to prosecutors in a timely manner and free of charge. The accused woman decided to profit from Primorye’s prosecutors asking them to pay 100 rubles ($4) as a state fee for provision of the documents. The woman was found guilty of such behavior and was administratively punished, the statement said.