Russian official says the FSB bugged his plate at a restaurant

Dmitry Zakharchenko, deputy head of the economic security department of Russian Interior Ministry, said that officers from the country's security service, the FSB, listened to his conversation through a plate on his table at a restaurant, reported newspaper RBK, citing Zakharchenko's address at a court meeting in Moscow in which he examined the legality of his arrest.

According Zakharchenko, the 'spy' plate was installed on his desk in a restaurant called Village Kitchen, where he meet with Anatoly Pshegornitsky Chairman of the Board of Directors of company Rusengineering  on December 25, 2015.

According to investigators, on this day, Zakharchenko had received a bribe of 7 million rubles (approximately $109,781) from an unidentified person. Zakharchenko denies receiving any money.

Zakharchenko, according to RIA Novosti, has asked the court to arrange a face-to-face interrogation between him and Pshegornitsky, as well as with the top manager of the Nota-Bank, whom he allegedly issued a warning to. Police told news agency Interfax that Zakharchenko was cooperating.

During a court session, Zakharchenko's lawyer Yuri Novikov stated that the court had a transcript of the conversation between Zakharchenko and Pshegornitsky, "but that [this transcript] does not contain a single word about money," reported legal news agency RAPSI. The lawyer has also said that, though his client had been accused of receiving money from an unknown person, "the investigation could not determine the [exact] circumstances of the alleged crime."

Zakharchenko insists that he saw officials installing a plate with a recording device at his table.

"We even began to joke and laugh on this subject," he said.

At previous court session, it was ruled that Zakharenko's arrest was "legal".