MOSCOW, December 17 (RIA Novosti/RAPSI) – A former senior Moscow Region official has been ordered by a court to pay 950 million rubles ($29 million) to the state, the largest ever fine imposed in Russia, for attempted bribery, the Interior Ministry reported Tuesday.
Lev Lvov, former first deputy head of the region’s Leninsky District administration, was found guilty of demanding a $500,000 bribe in late 2011 from the head of a local construction company for signing off a permit to use a newly built apartment block.
Lvov had initially demanded a $1 million bribe, media reports said. He also asked for a discount on two apartments in the building for his acquaintances. He was detained after his assistant Igor Komarov came to receive the money.
“The court has imposed a fine of 950 million rubles. Lvov's accomplice, Igor Komarov, will have to pay 500 million rubles ($15 million) to the state,” the Interior Ministry’s statement says.
Over 1,600 Russian lawmakers and heads of local government bodies have been indicted for corruption over the past two years, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin said earlier this month. Corruption-related offenses caused the state about nine billion rubles' worth of damages during this period.
