The former governor of one of Russia’s Far East regions has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for bribe-taking amid an increasing nationwide crackdown on corruption.
Alexander Khoroshavin allegedly received more than $5.6 million in bribes between 2011 and 2015 to facilitate business deals while serving as the governor of the island of Sakhalin. His conviction comes days after the sentencing of another Russian governor for accepting a bribe and a mass anti-corruption crackdown in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.
A Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk city court sentenced Khoroshavin to 13 years and fined him 500 million rubles ($8.6 million), the Prosecutor General’s Office said Friday in an online statement.
Three of his former associates were handed up to 9.5 years behind bars and fines exceeding 170 million rubles in total.
The former officials’ attorneys have vowed to appeal the court decisions, the RBC business portal reported.
During the course of the hearings, Khoroshavin denied taking any bribes and claimed that he was totally innocent, adding that the accusations were "based on guesses and assumptions, RBC reported.
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