Russian Court Issues Warrant for Arrest In 2,718 Bitcoin Bribe Scandal

A top Moscow court has issued an arrest warrant for Dmitry Gubin, a former top investigator for the Tverskoy district of the capital for allegedly benefitting from a 2,718 BTC ($74,457,707) bribery scandal.

According to a Wednesday report from “The Moscow Court” telegram channel, Gubin faces severe charges under Part 6 of Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which pertains to receiving an especially large-scale bribe. He is also accused of violating Part 1 of Article 286, which relates to exceeding official powers.

International Warrant

The report highlighted suspicions that Gubin had evaded the country, prompting international law enforcement agencies to issue an arrest warrant in his name.

This recent development comes on the heels of Kristina Lyakhovenko, a subordinate of Gubin, being apprehended in September in connection with the same bribery case. However, at the core of this scandal stands Marat Tambiev, the former head of the investigative department of the Tverskoy District Committee, who has remained in pre-trial detention since 2022.

The Criminal Syndicate

Investigators believe the suspects established a criminal syndicate that received bribes from individuals linked to diverse criminal cases. The most notable bribe was the transfer of 2,718.6 BTC, by members of the hacker group “Infraud Organization” in December 2021, purportedly aimed at averting the confiscation of their assets.

In July this year, a Moscow court seized 1,032.1 BTC from Tambiev, categorizing the assets as state income. Notably, access codes for two cryptocurrency accounts were unearthed on Tambiev’s computer, hidden within a folder humorously labeled “Pension.” The remaining cryptocurrency holdings were thought to have been acquired by Lyakhovenko and Gubin.

Additionally, investigators claim that the accused individuals deliberately concealed knowledge about the presence of 5,212.9 BTC within the hackers’ wallets by creating inspection reports that inaccurately stated the absence of cryptocurrency in these wallets.

Moreover, this situation has given rise to worries regarding unaccounted-for assets. State Attorney Vadim Bagaturia brought attention to the inexplicable absence of 654 BTC from the bribery case. He also underscored various discrepancies identified during the analysis of handwritten notes on Tambiev’s computer, raising questions about the credibility of the provided evidence.

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Newton Mbogo is a crypto and DeFi specialist. He has a B.A Hons in Law from Kabarak University, where he studied complex economic, legal, and ethical theory relevant to the FinTech landscape. Newton has a particular interest in decentralization and privacy blockchains, as they directly relate to our human rights and flourishing. He cares about blockchain, DAG, and DeFi as a means of positively changing our lived experiences.

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