The head of the CIS anti-organized crime bureau, Lt.Gen. Alexander Bokov, has been detained in Moscow on embezzlement charges, spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee Vladimir Markin said on Wednesday.
Bokov, whose 2009 registered annual income was one million rubles (about $33,000), has been accused of stealing $46 million.
The official is suspected of extorting $46 million in 2005 from a Russian businessman for assistance in buying a majority stake in a transport company, Markin said.
"The businessman handed at least $4.5 million to Bokov's accomplices in 2006, but Bokov didn't make any moves on the deal," the spokesman said.
Over the last few years, Russia has seen two high-profile corruption cases, including one with Lt. Gen. Alexander Bulbov, a former senior drug control official, who received in 2010 a three-year jail term for illegal schemes with his retirement payments and abuse of office.
In 2006, another top official from the Emergencies Ministry, Gen. Vladimir Ganeyev, was charged with organizing a criminal group, abuse of office and falsifying investigation documents over a period of six years and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
MOSCOW, January 19 (RIA Novosti)
