FSB colonels were accused of taking a bribe from the rector of the Lubyanka church. Officers involved in a 20 million ruble scam

The military investigation has charged two Russian FSB colonels who were arrested for receiving a bribe from the rector of the Moscow Catholic Church of St. Louis. Officers Evgeny Lobanov and Denis Karmanov are involved in a scam worth 20 million rubles.

The security forces are accused under Part 6 of Article 290 (“Taking a bribe on an especially large scale”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, but Lobanov and Karmanov do not agree with the qualifications of the crime charged to them. They admitted their guilt, but insist that the case should be reclassified under Article 159 (“Fraud”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

FSB colonels are arrested until mid-March 2024.

The priest wanted the FSB officers to influence the court

According to investigators, from March to October 2023, Karmanov and Lobanov received money from the rector of the Church of St. Louis, promising him a decision in his favor in the arbitration court. Some of the money was found on the accused during a search of their homes.

The defendants' defense insists that the officers had no opportunity to influence the courts, so their actions should be classified as fraud. It is known that Lobanov previously interrogated as a witness in the trial of former Interior Ministry Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, who was also detained on charges of a number of corruption and official crimes.

The investigation does not disclose the name of the cleric who handed over the bribe to the officers. On website of the parish of St. Louis in Moscow, priest Vyacheslav Gorokhov is indicated as the rector of the church. There are Italian and Vietnamese communities in the Moscow Catholic church. It is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Our Lady of Moscow. Masses are held within the walls of the temple in French, English, Italian, Vietnamese, Russian and Latin.

Three more FSB officers were accused of bribes worth billions of rubles

On January 8, it became known that three officers of the “M” department of the Russian FSB were accused of attempting to take bribes in the amount of more than five billion rubles, and a preventive measure was chosen for them.

Two defendants, Alexey Tsarev and Alexey Manyshkin, made a deal with the investigation and are under house arrest. The third, Alexander Ushakov, is also charged with organizing a criminal community using his official position, and he was taken into custody.

The department is engaged in counterintelligence support and combating corruption in the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies.