A prominent Moscow investigator is fingered in a mobster bribery scandal

An indictment against Mikhail Maksimenko, the former head of security at Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee, has revealed that Alexander Drymanov, the director of the Investigative Committee’s Moscow department, was involved in a mobster’s attempt to bribe one of his compatriots out of jail.

According to the indictment, both Maksimenko and Drymanov agreed to take as much as $5 million from Zakhariy Kalashov, nicknamed “Young Shakro,” to facilitate the release of Andrey Kochuikov, known as “The Italian,” who was arrested in connection with a deadly shooting in December 2015 at a Moscow cafe. (Kalashov is suspected of trying to extort money from the cafe’s owner.)

Drymanov told the magazine RBC that he’s unaware of any allegations against him in the Maksimenko case, refusing to comment any further.

• Maksimenko wasn’t the only investigator arrested in the bribery scandal. In July 2016, federal agents also collared another two officers in the Moscow office: Alexander Lamonov and Denis Nikandrov. In early December 2017, the news agency TASS reported that Lamonov and Nikandrov reached a deal with investigators that would expedite their cases. In mid-January, the Federal Security Service reportedly dropped all charges against Lamonov. Maksimenko’s trial, on the other hand, is being considered separately.