Russian Ex-Investigator Sentenced To 16 Years For Accepting Bitcoin Bribe

According to Odaily, a former chief investigator in Russia, Marat Tambiyev, has been sentenced to 16 years in prison after being found guilty of accepting a bribe of 1,032 BTC, currently valued at $65 million, from a group of hackers. Tambiyev was accused last year of accepting the Bitcoin bribe from individuals associated with the hacker group 'Infraud Organization,' which was under investigation by the Russian Investigative Committee. As part of the agreement, Tambiyev agreed not to confiscate the illegally obtained Bitcoin from the organization. He received half of the illicit assets on April 7, 2022. In 2023, Russian authorities discovered the BTC under a file named 'Pension' on a Mac computer. Authorities concluded that the amount was unreasonable given Tambiyev's official income of 11.7 million rubles ($144,000). Tambiyev has denied the charges, claiming he was framed. He plans to appeal the verdict along with his colleague Kristina Lyakhovenko, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for facing similar charges in the same case.