Former Anti-Corruption Chief in Yekaterinburg Sentenced to Prison for Multi-Million Bribery Scheme

The former head of the anti-corruption department in the Sverdlovsk region has been sentenced to four years in prison for accepting a bribe totaling 217 million rubles (approximately $2.7 million), according to a ruling from a Yekaterinburg court on Thursday.

Andrei Dyakov, once the leader of the regional Interior Ministry’s anti-corruption unit, was arrested in May 2024 along with several other law enforcement officials. He accepted a plea bargain and provided testimony against other implicated individuals, including the region’s former chief tax officer, who is currently on the run.

The Leninsky District Court in Yekaterinburg sentenced Dyakov to four years in a high-security prison after he was found guilty of aggravated bribery and the misuse of his authority as a public official.

In addition, he has been stripped of his police rank and is prohibited from holding any public office for the next eight years.

The sentence has not yet gone into effect and allows for an appeal, as stated on the court’s social media account.

Investigators have accused Dyakov of facilitating illegal VAT refunds from the federal budget for various entrepreneurs.

Prosecutors claimed Dyakov received 17 million rubles from one businessman and an additional 200 million rubles from a prominent telecommunications company founder.

In his closing remarks to the court, Dyakov admitted to his wrongdoing but insisted that his actions were not motivated by personal gain, asserting that he aimed to assist his department and colleagues.

Local media have linked this case to a broader corruption investigation involving the former daughter-in-law of Arkady Chernetsky, the city’s mayor from 1992 to 2010. Chernetsky served as a Russian senator from 2010 to 2021 and currently holds the position of first deputy chairman in the Sverdlovsk legislative assembly.

Anastasia Chernetskaya is under investigation for her alleged role in a significant fraud scheme involving the telecommunications company TTK-Yekaterinburg and had been released from house arrest in February of this year.