MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The Prosecutor General's office has confirmed that two people were recently detained in Moscow while taking a bribe, including an Interior Ministry major suspected of extorting a large sum of money from a senior bank executive.
"It is true that on May 17 the Prosecutor General's office and the Federal Security Service carried out a joint operation to prevent an attempt to extort a large sum from the leadership of the European Private Investment Bank," a spokesman told Interfax on Wednesday.
A criminal case on large-scale fraudulent misappropriation by an organized group was opened, he said, but refrained from any other comments.
Earlier, law enforcement sources told Interfax that an Interior Ministry official and a voluntary aide for a Duma deputy had been caught taking a $100,000 bribe from a top bank executive.
The sources said the two were extorting the money in exchanging for closing a criminal case allegedly opened against the bank's management.