ASIATODAY.ID, MOSCOW – A Moscow court has sentenced six senior law enforcement officials — including top Investigative Committee and Federal Security Service (FSB) officers — to lengthy prison terms in one of Russia’s most high-profile corruption cases in recent years.
The defendants, central figures in the so-called “Merlion case,” were found guilty on Monday of forming a criminal gang, accepting bribes, and fabricating evidence as part of an elaborate extortion scheme targeting a major Russian conglomerate.
According to prosecutors, the group conspired to seize control of a large private company by launching a fabricated criminal case against its shareholders. To halt the false prosecution, the officers allegedly demanded a 15 billion ruble bribe (approximately $200 million) from their victims.
Sons of Power, Architects of a Scheme
Among those convicted were Sergey Romodanovsky and Rustam Yusupov, both department heads within the Investigative Committee and sons of senior law enforcement figures. Romodanovsky’s late father, Konstantin Romodanovsky, headed Russia’s Federal Migration Service from 2005 to 2016.
The criminal group also included an investigator, an FSB officer, and a counterintelligence official. Prosecutors said a lawyer acted as an intermediary between the corrupt officials and their victims.
All six defendants received prison sentences ranging from 14 to 19 years. They pleaded not guilty, and their legal teams have announced plans to appeal the verdict.
International “Fixers” and a Wanted List
Investigators revealed that the group was formed in 2019 with the help of two alleged “fixers” — Kirill Kachur, officially designated a foreign agent in Russia, and his father Vitaly Kachur. Both are believed to be residing in the United Arab Emirates and have been placed on an international wanted list by Moscow.
Arson, Fake Assassination Plot, and Corporate Warfare
The gang specifically targeted Merlion Group, a major conglomerate operating across IT, consumer electronics, and office furniture retail. Prosecutors said the scheme escalated dramatically when the group allegedly staged an arson attack on a house belonging to Merlion’s former CEO.
That incident was then used to launch a fabricated assassination attempt investigation against the company’s shareholders.
Several victims were detained before their lawyers succeeded in transferring the case to the Investigative Committee’s central office — where the corruption plot was ultimately exposed.
Additional Bribes Across Multiple Cases
Separately, prosecutors said Romodanovsky and Yusupov accepted a 109 million ruble bribe (around $1.42 million) to shield suspects in another criminal case. They also allegedly demanded €10 million (about $11.9 million) for similar interference in a third investigation.
The verdict adds to a growing list of high-level corruption convictions within Russia’s law enforcement and security structures, underscoring the scale of abuse involving fabricated charges, corporate extortion, and elite impunity. (RT)
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