Moscow's ‘Young Shakro’ bribery case lands an ex-investigator in prison for 13 years

Former Colonel Mikhail Maksimenko, who led the Federal Investigative Committee’s Internal Security Directorate, has been fined 165 million rubles ($2.7 million) and sentenced to 13 years in prison for accepting a $500,000 bribe to try to free a criminal working for the mobster Zakhariy Kalashov (known as “Young Shakro”). Maksimenko was also stripped of his rank as colonel and banned for life from working again for a state agency. Three other law enforcement officers testified against him, including one of his former subordinates. Maksimenko maintains his innocence.

The court ruled that Maksimenko received the money to help free Andrey Kochuikov (known as “The Italian”), who took part in a deadly shootout at a Moscow cafe in 2015, where two of Kalashov’s men died. Kalashov was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison for extortion. In Maksimenko’s case, officials also testified against Moscow Investigative Committee chief Alexander Drymanov, but he has only been named as a witness in the case.