Another former Moscow investigator named in the ‘Young Shakro’ mobster bribery scandal is sentenced to prison

Another former top official from the Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee has been sentenced to prison for his role in a bribery scandal involving the mobster Zakhariy Kalashov (known as “Young Shakro”). Denis Nikandrov is being sent away for five and a half years and stripped of his major-general rank. Once he goes free, he’ll also be barred from working in Russian law enforcement for another three years.

Nikandrov’s case was expedited after he accepted a plea bargain and confessed to the charges. The trial was held in closed court because some of the case materials are classified. Despite the deal, Nikandrov’s lawyer says he intends to challenge the verdict.

At a cafe in Moscow in December 2015, several of Zakhariy Kalashov’s associates got into a shootout with former police officer, resulting in the deaths of two of Kalashov’s men. The following summer, federal agents arrested three high-ranking Moscow investigators on charges that they accepted $500,000 to facilitate the release of Andrey “The Italian” Kochuikov, one of the cafe gunmen. The bribe didn’t pay off: 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.

In July 2018, federal agents arrested Moscow Investigative Committee head Alexander Drymanov, not long after he reportedly stepped down from his post. Denis Nikandrov previously testified that he paid Drymanov 9,850 euros (about $11,200) “as thanks for a promotion and for his general support.”