A former top federal agency detective in Russia has been sentenced to 16 years in jail for taking bribes from credit card fraudsters associated with the Infraud Organization. The Infraud Organization was an international cybercrime gang that operated between 2010 and 2018. The detective, Marat Tambiev, received a bribe of BTC 1,032 from an Infraud gang member in exchange for not confiscating the group’s Bitcoin holdings. Tambiev, who denied the charges, was found guilty by the court and was also stripped of his official rank and fined over $5 million. His assistant, Kristina Lyakhovenko, was sentenced to nine years in jail for falsifying evidence in a criminal case and bribery.
The court heard that Tambiev met a lawyer named Roman Meyer in 2020, who represented the interests of Infraud members, and asked for bribes. Tambiev assisted in initiating a criminal case against thieves who had burgled one of the Infraud member’s apartments. Later, investigators found the private keys to Tambiev’s Bitcoin stash on a work computer. Tambiev also suggested splitting seized funds with his colleague and gave orders to junior staff to avoid seizing the hackers’ property in exchange for the bribes. The case was assigned to Lieutenant Lyakhovenko when the hackers were charged in 2021.
Prosecutors stated that Bitcoin cases involving criminal activity are on the rise in Russia, indicating that courts should expect more similar cases in the future. The investigators seized BTC 5,212 during the case against the Infraud members, and Tambiev proposed splitting the funds with his colleague. In return for the bribes, the hackers were placed under house arrest instead of detention. The court heard that criminal cases involving Bitcoin and other altcoins are on the rise and should prepare for more such cases in the coming months and years.
In light of the rise in Bitcoin-related criminal cases, the court sentenced the former Investigative Committee detective Marat Tambiev to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony and his assistant Kristina Lyakhovenko to nine years in a general penal colony. The court found Tambiev guilty of accepting a bribe from an Infraud gang member to avoid confiscating the group’s own Bitcoin holdings. Tambiev denied the charges, claiming he was framed, but the court ruled against him. The prosecutor also indicated that Tambiev received part of the bribe by prior agreement with his assistant, who was convicted of falsifying evidence in the criminal case.
The Infraud Bitcoin bribery court case has been described as the largest bribery case in modern Russian history. The high-profile affair involved international cybercrime gang, Infraud Organization, which specialized in credit card-related fraud. The court heard that the former detective solicited bribes from a lawyer representing Infraud members and helped initiate a criminal case against thieves associated with the gang. The investigators found the private keys to Tambiev’s Bitcoin stash on his work computer, demonstrating his involvement in the illicit activity. The court’s decision to punish both Tambiev and Lyakhovenko reflects the gravity of the charges and sends a strong message against corruption in Russia.
