MOSCOW, February 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday dismissed the country’s top anti-corruption official, the Kremlin said.
“Putin signed a decree to relieve police Maj. Gen. Denis Sugrobov of his duties as the head of the Main Administration for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Activities,” the Kremlin press service said in a statement.
According to the Kommersant newspaper, Sugrobov tendered his resignation after the Russian Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB) searched offices of four of his subordinates. Bribe extortion and power abuse cases were launched against them.
The four officers were investigating the activities of a senior official with the FSB’s Organizational Security Service.
Sugrobov, appointed to the post in summer 2011, had declared a war against corruption in Russia and fired 40 percent of his department’s old staff after they failed background checks.
“I am responsible for every colleague,” he told Kommersant in an interview in early 2012.
Sugrobov is known for his role in several high-profile corruption cases, including the Oboronservis case against senior Defense Ministry officials and fraud involving state purchases of medical equipment.
Officers of his department have conducted numerous anti-corruption sweeps in St. Petersburg, Kabardino-Balkaria, Dagestan and other regions.
