The Infraud Bitcoin bribery case has concluded with a Moscow court sentencing former federal detective Marat Tambiev to 16 years in prison. The Balashikha City Court found Tambiev and his assistant, Kristina Lyakhovenko, guilty of accepting bribes from credit card fraudsters, according to a report by Izvestia.
A Landmark Bribery Scandal
Legal experts have dubbed this case “the largest bribe in modern Russian history.” The Infraud Organization operated internationally between October 2010 and February 2018, specializing in credit card fraud, commonly referred to as “carding.”
Tambiev will serve his sentence in a maximum-security penal colony, while Lyakhovenko received a nine-year sentence in a general penal facility. The court revealed that Tambiev accepted a bribe of 1,032 BTC from a member of the Infraud gang in exchange for not confiscating the group’s Bitcoin holdings.
Denial and Consequences
Despite denying the charges and claiming he was framed, Tambiev was found guilty. The court also stripped him of his official rank and imposed a fine of over $5 million. Prosecutors stated that Tambiev agreed to allow the Infraud members to retain their illegally obtained Bitcoin assets, receiving half of those assets on April 7, 2022.
“This is now about preparing for a high-intensity conflict, perhaps against Russia, perhaps against China, but basically it’s a state-on-state clash.”
On “The Intelligence” the US Army’s chief of staff talks to @shashj about gearing up for a new age https://t.co/jLMxBtwGYQ 
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) October 9, 2024
Lyakhovenko, who was also demoted and barred from holding any government positions for eight years, was convicted of falsifying evidence and bribery. The court noted that Tambiev conspired with Lyakhovenko to manipulate evidence in the case.
Involvement of a Lawyer
During the proceedings, it was revealed that in 2020, Tambiev solicited bribes from a lawyer, Roman Meyer, who represented Infraud members. In return for the bribes, Tambiev facilitated a criminal case against individuals who burglarized Meyer’s apartment, helping to shield the hackers from detention.
Russia’s move to ban Discord, an instant messaging platform popular among gamers and programmers, sparked a backlash from military bloggers who say it’s used by drone operators at the front in the war on Ukraine https://t.co/segRz7czGs
— Bloomberg (@business) October 9, 2024
Investigators later discovered the private keys to Tambiev’s Bitcoin stash on his work computer, hidden in a folder labeled “Pension.”
A Growing Concern
Prosecutors indicated that during the investigation, 5,212 BTC was seized. Tambiev suggested splitting the seized funds with his colleagues and directed junior staff to avoid seizing the hackers’ assets.
As criminal cases involving Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continue to rise, legal experts anticipate more similar cases in the future, signaling a trend that courts should prepare for in the coming months and years.
The post Infraud Bitcoin Bribery: Russian Federal Agent Gets 16-Year Sentence appeared first on Baffic.
