A former Russian police chief was charged with taking bribes in the form of Georgian dumplings Khinkali, in Russia’s third-largest city of Novosibirsk.
Alexander Grashchenkov was accused of exploiting his power to engage in unethical conduct, involving three local businessmen in exchange for free meals. Grashchenkov received over $700 in meals from a nearby cafe in exchange for discovering that the entrepreneurs were breaching town lease agreements.
“The hot lunches were delivered on request. The police officer chose khinkali and a simple cucumber salad from a variety of dishes on the menu,” Kommersant had reported at the time.
A Novosibirsk court found Grashchenkov guilty and sentenced him to a suspended term of three years and four years’ probation.
The report did not clearly mention the former district police chief by name, but the news website reported that the former police chief in question was Grashchenkov.
Grashchenkov was found guilty, investigators said. The bribe-givers are not being tried together.
Kommersant reported that investigators initially accused Grashchenkov of eating 200,000 roubles ($2,600) worth of khinkali. The bribe amount was later reduced to $700 or 53,000 rubles.
