An imprisoned former top investigator in Moscow will face new bribery charges

A former top Investigative Committee official in Moscow already serving a 13-year prison sentence for accepting a $500,000 bribe will face new criminal charges, prosecutors said on Friday. Former Colonel Mikhail Maksimenko, who led the Federal Investigative Committee’s Internal Security Directorate, has been named in a new case against several prominent former officials suspected of taking money to facilitate Andrey “The Italian” Kochuikov’s early release and reduce the charges against him.

Following his previous conviction, Maksimenko was also stripped of his rank as colonel and banned for life from working again for a state agency. He maintains his innocence.

In July 2018, federal agents detained Moscow Investigative Committee head Alexander Drymanov, not long after he reportedly stepped down from his post.

Andrey Kochuikov is a known associate of the mobster Zakhariy “Young Shakro” Kalashov. In March 2018, Kalashov and Kochuikov were sentenced to nine years and 10 months in prison and eight years and 10 months in prison, respectively.