Suitcase formation

300 thousand marked dollars were found on the senator from Kalmykia

In the case of Levon Chakhmakhchyan, a member of the Federation Council from Kalmykia, FSB operatives found $300 thousand, marked with special paint. As reported last Friday in television news, intelligence agencies contacted the senator, as well as the chairman of the Russian Party of Workers' Self-Government, while checking information about bribes allegedly taken by high-ranking officials. Mr. Chakhmakhchyan himself denies all accusations of bribery, calling the FSB operation a provocation.

From the case of the senator, who holds the post of deputy head of the chairman of the Federation Council committee on local self-government, security officers seized 30 bundles of $10,000 each. All of them were marked with special paint. During the investigative actions, the senator constantly reminded the operatives of his parliamentary immunity. According to preliminary data from the investigation, this money was nevertheless transferred to Chakhmakhchyan as a bribe. And the total amount of donations, according to the FSB, was $1.5 million. The rest of the money was to be transferred to a bank account.

The reason for the FSB operation was information received from the security service of the Accounts Chamber. As the press service of the joint venture reported, the internal investigation was initiated by the head of the chamber, Sergei Stepashin. It turned out that a number of major Russian officials take bribes to exclude “unflattering” facts from the materials of audits of the Accounts Chamber. The result of the investigation was the release of a number of chamber employees from official duties due to their possible involvement in a criminal group. Mr. Stepashin informed the country's leadership about the suppression of the activities of this group. And all materials on this high-profile case, as noted in the press service, will be transferred in the coming days to the Federation Council commission for interaction with the Accounts Chamber.

In an interview with Ekho Moskvy, Levon Chakhmakhchyan stated that he did not take any bribes. According to him, the FSB operation against him is a provocation organized by the chairman of the board of directors of Transaero, Alexander Pleshakov. The businessman allegedly asked the politician for help in electing him to the post of vice-president of the association of Russian-Armenian business cooperation, the leaders of which are Chakhmakhchyan himself and Nikolai Ryzhkov.

Alexey IVLEV