The court ordered the two-month detention of Alexei Ivanov, deputy chairman of the PFR, Russian Kommersant newspaper reported.Â
Ivanov reportedly admitted taking nearly US$70,000, and possibly dozens of thousands more, to act in favor of the Russian IT integrator Technoserv Management LLC.
He was detained late Wednesday and taken for questioning to the Russian Investigative Committee, an agency that in 2011 replaced the Russian Prosecutor General's Investigative Committee and has been operating as the country’s anti-corruption agency ever since.
A Technoserv’s top manager, who allegedly brokered the bribe in favor of his company, as Vedomesti business newspaper reported, was also detained. Both were nabbed just ahead of the PFR’s $23.8 million data system tender announcement.
Following the arrest, according to media reports, Ivanov admitted his guilt, resigned from the PFR post, and is facing up to 15 years in prison as well as a fine.Â
Russian law enforcement officers also seized documents from the Fund’s offices, as well as from two contractor companies.Â
Ivanov’s arrest, as TAdviser news reported, did not disrupt the work of the PFR, which said it had been cooperating with prosecutors.
