After being implicated in a bribery scandal, a top Moscow investigator reportedly resigns

Alexander Drymanov, the head of Moscow’s Investigative Committee, has reportedly submitted his resignation, sources told the magazine RBC. Drymanov took the job in December 2015, after managing the agency’s criminal investigations department, where he worked cases involving war crimes.

Drymanov’s name has come up in a bribery scandal involving the mobster Zakhariy Kalashov, known as “Young Shakro.” Three investigators in Moscow have been accused of accepting a bribe to free one of Kalashov’s men from pretrial detention. In December 2017, federal agents searched Drymanov’s home and office, after one of the suspects said he gave the bribe to Drymanov. The FSB did not press charges, however, because his special police status means only Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin can bring charges against him.

In March 2018, testifying at a trial against one of the suspects, Drymanov said the police actions against him were illegal and vowed to lodge a complaint with Attorney General Yuri Chaika and the State Duma.