Two Lawyers Detained in Kuzbass Anti-Corruption Officer's Bribery Case

Law enforcement officials have detained two lawyers as part of the investigation into former head of the Kuzbass Investigative Committee department, Leonid Kharitonov. Sources in law enforcement told NGS42.RU on Tuesday, January 20, that two attorneys allegedly helped him receive a bribe of 100 million rubles ($1.1 million).

According to the publication«s source, Kharitonov»s pretrial detention was recently extended at a court in Novosibirsk. The hearing was held behind closed doors, and journalists, public activists, and the ex-investigator«s relatives were not admitted.

»The arrest has been extended for the period of the investigation; he remains in the pretrial detention center,« the source said.

He added that there are two more suspects in the case, both of whom worked as lawyers. One of them, Elena Z., was until recently a member of the Rudnichny District Bar Association; she was detained at a hospital where she was undergoing treatment.

Another person named Irina Kharitonova also worked at that same bar association until recently; the NGS42.RU editorial office is trying to determine if she is a relative of the former law enforcement officer or simply shares his surname.

The other suspect is also a lawyer; his full name has not yet been established.

The detainees are accused of acting as intermediaries in passing the bribe to Kharitonov; all three suspects are cooperating with the investigation.

As NGS42.RU previously reported, the money was allegedly received by Kharitonov, who handled particularly important cases, mainly corruption-related, from former chief physician Mikhail Likstanov. It is believed the investigator knew about the medic«s machinations but did not initiate criminal cases.

Likstanov himself, who allegedly lobbied for his interests through former Health Minister Dmitry Beglov, has left the country.

It also became known today that a maternity hospital in Novokuznetsk may have tried to conceal the deaths of nine children «out of habit,» because Beglov, while minister, allegedly demanded not to be informed about problems in institutions.