Russian Official Detained For Storing $24M Bitcoin Bribes In 'Pension Folder'

A Russian official has been detained for receiving a $24 million bribe in Bitcoin BTC/USD from members of the hacker group Infraud Organization.

What Happened: Marat Tambiev, was the head of the investigative department for the Tverskoy district of Moscow until he was fired for corruption. 

During a search of his Moscow apartment a few months ago, authorities discovered 1032.1 BTC from his laptop in a "pension" folder. His holdings were confiscated by the investigators.

According to the authorities, Tambiev earning less than $150,000 during his tenure and owning Bitcoins, valued at $24 million as of Jan. 30, "indicates the receipt of property from sources not provided for by law." 

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Why It Matters: Tambiev had allegedly received the bribe on April 7, 2022, from the hacking group Infraud Organization and members of the group Konstantin Bergmanov and Kirill Samokutyaevsky, in exchange for not seizing the illegal assets of the hackers he was investigating. 

Tambiev is set to appear in court on June 5. He has denied the allegations of corruption and sued the Investigative Committee for ongoing investigation and unproven charges, however, Tambiev’s lawsuit was dismissed after a departmental audit confirmed his wrongdoing.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $26,808.22, down 0.12% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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