The prosecutor’s office of Komi asked the court to sentence the ex-head of the regional Interior Ministry of Komi Viktor Polovnikov, accused of corruption, to 13 years in a a strict regime colony. According to the investigators, the ex-minister could have received a bribe of 12.5 million from a local businessman who was accused of fraud. This was reported by the BNK news agency.
At the court session on August, 25, the prosecutor’s office of Komi demanded 13 years in a strict regime colony for the ex-head of Interior Ministry of the republic Viktor Polovnikov. In addition, the state prosecutor demanded that the former minister be fined 14.5 million rubles, prohibited to hold positions in the Interior Ministry for five years and deprived of awards and the rank of police major general.
The prosecutor asked the court to confiscate the Polovnikov’s house and half of the land parcel under it from. The department believes that the ex-head of Interior Ministry formally ceded this property to his relative Tatiana Lutsenko: the house and land, which cost 8 million rubles, actually belongs to Viktor Polovnikov, but is registered under a fictitious contract with a woman.
The ex-head of Interior Ministry of the republic Viktor Polovnikov was detained and arrested in the middle of January 2020. According to the investigators, the ex-minister could have received a bribe from a local businessman Sergei Sitnikov, who was accused of fraud. Polovnikov allegedly received at least 12.5 million rubles of the total bribe of 25 million rubles.
At a meeting in January 2021, the ex-head of Interior Ministry did not plead guilty. Polovnikov’s defense asked to replace the judge, believing that he had an interest in the case. The judge rejected this request.
