Russian investigator sentenced to 16 years in jail for accepting $65 million in Bitcoin bribes from hackers

Russia has sentenced former mid-level investigator Marat Tambiyev to 16 years in jail after he was arrested for accepting a bribe of 1,032 bitcoins (presently price about $65 million) from a hacker he was investigating.

The bribes got here from members of a corrupt hacking group, which Tambiyev was tasked with investigating whereas working for the Investigative Committee of Russia (ICR).

Russian bribery scandal

Mr. Tambiyev has been with the ICR since 2011 and has held vital obligations in numerous investigative departments throughout the nation. Earlier than being overthrown, he rose by means of the ranks to turn out to be head of Moscow’s Tverskoy district investigative division. The disgraced police officer allegedly obtained a big bribe from a hacking group on April 7, 2022.

In line with lawsuit The lawsuit, filed in Moscow’s Nikulinsky District Court docket, alleges that Tambiyev accepted BTC’s bribes on the situation that he wouldn’t confiscate the group’s illicit property, thereby permitting two of its members (Kiril Samokutyaevsky and Konstantin・Mr. Bergmanov) was capable of keep away from imprisonment.

When the bribes had been first found in early 2023, the worth of the 1,032 Bitcoins reached 1.6 billion rubles, surpassing Russia’s earlier bribery report of 1.4 billion rubles, which was paid in installments.

A search of Tambiyev’s Moscow condominium turned up an Apple MacBook Professional, which investigators lastly accessed a number of months later. Inside, they found a folder labeled “Pension” that contained keys to 2 on-line wallets holding a complete of 1,032 Bitcoins. The stash was seized and moved to a Ledger Nano X {hardware} pockets.

Tambiev maintained He was framed and maintained his innocence, claiming his actions helped the state recuperate a few of the funds related to legal exercise. In reference to the identical incident, Tambiyev’s subordinate Kristina Lyakhovenko was sentenced to 9 years in jail. Authorized representatives for each defendants introduced plans to attraction.

As well as, in 2021, two unauthorized members, Sergey Medvedev of Russia and Marko Leopard of North Macedonia declared Sentenced to five to 10 years in U.S. federal jail for trafficking stolen private knowledge, bank card particulars, malware, and different unlawful items.

Mass arrests in Russia

Regardless of its constructive angle towards the cryptocurrency business since imposing a blanket ban in 2022, Russia has remained cautious and is engaged in a number of investigations associated to abuse. Lately, almost 100 cybercrime suspects related to nameless cost system UAPS and cryptocurrency change Cryptex had been arrested. arrested by authorities.

These people had been concerned in unlawful actions reminiscent of cash laundering and the sale of financial institution playing cards. The U.S. Treasury says Cryptex processed greater than $51 million in ransomware assaults and greater than $720 million in transactions associated to providers ceaselessly utilized by Russian cybercriminals, together with mixing providers and licensed change Garantex. reported.