In Volgograd, district head is suspected of bribe-taking

A criminal case has been initiated against Alexander Gorbunov, head of the administration of the Krasnoarmeiskiy District of Volgograd, under the article of "huge bribe-taking".

This episode appeared within the investigation of another criminal case, which had been initiated against Alexander Gorbunov and his deputy Roman Karatanov under "abuse of power".

According to the press service of the Investigatory Department for the Volgograd Region of the ICPO with reference to the version of the inquiry, in summer of 2008 Gorbunov was extorting a bribe of 2 million roubles from one of local entrepreneurs for assistance in extending the land lease agreement.

After bargaining down to 1 million, the entrepreneur transferred the money to the account of the joint stock company, where the culprit's wife was director general.

However, in April 2010, the district head told the entrepreneur that contract extension failed, as reported by the IA named "City of Heroes".

Besides, according to investigators, the head of the municipal district and his deputy demanded that, instead of lending a plot for construction, a director of one of the commercial companies should pay some 150,000 roubles for decorative illumination of ten trees in the said territory. In return, they guaranteed to him provision of land plots for erecting commercial pavilions.

The director applied to the prosecutor's office; then, investigators revealed several more similar cases of extorting money from businessmen by the above bureaucrats, the "Izvestiya.Ru" reports.