Who is Marat Tambiyev? Russian Investigator Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison For Bitcoin Bribes

The Russian government has sentenced a former state investigator, Marat Tambiyev, to 16 years in prison for accepting bribes in Bitcoin worth roughly $73 million. This marks Russia’s largest bribery case in its recorded history.

According to a report by Reuters, Marat Tambiyev was accused of receiving staggering Bitcoin bribes, which amount to over five times the country’s previous bribe record.

According to Protos, Russia has sentenced a former chief investigator, Marat Tambiyev, to 16 years in prison after he was arrested for accepting 1,032 bitcoin bribes worth $65 million from a group of hackers. As part of the deal, Tambiyev agreed not to confiscate the bitcoins…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 9, 2024

Marat Tambiyev Was Working For The Investigative Committee Of Russia At The Time Of Accepting Bribes

Last year, Marat Tambiyev was alleged to have accepted a bribe in Bitcoin from members of a Russian organized crime group he was investigating during his time working for the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The Russian prosecution claims that instead of seizing all of the illicit assets for the state, Tambiyev orchestrated more than half of the criminal enterprise’s Bitcoin holdings to be transferred into his personal crypto wallets. In doing so, he allowed the group to keep the remainder of the funds.

Investigators discovered the hidden wallets on Tambiyev’s laptop in a file named ‘Pension’. Since its discovery, authorities have since recovered over a third of the Bitcoin from the hidden wallets. However, the location of the remaining Bitcoin is uncertain.

EXPLORE: Who is David Kagel? 86 Year Old Pensioner Turned Crypto Ponzi Kingpin

Tambiyev Claims To Have Been Framed And Will Be Appealing His Sentencing

RUSSIA’S BTC SCANDAL: 1,032 BITCOIN BRIBE EXPOSED

Former Russian chief investigator just sentenced to 16 years after pocketing 1,032 BTC ($65M) from hackers.

Corruption hitting crypto again – this time with law enforcement involved.

The takeaway? Regulatory cracks are still… pic.twitter.com/aR45OYk1oz

— Crypto Town Hall (@Crypto_TownHall) October 9, 2024

Mr. Tambiyev has denied the charges and is claiming to have been framed. He also argues that his actions have enabled the state to recover some of the illicit funds.

Kristina Lyakhovenko is a colleague of Marat Tambiyev’s and was recently jailed for nine years for her role in the case. Both Lyakhovenko and Tambiyev have declared their intention to appeal the 9 and 16-year sentences handed out by the Russian government.

It is likely that more high-profile crypto bribery cases will soon come to light. In the same article, Reuters claims that Russia is currently pursuing several high-profile bribery investigations, many involving senior military figures.

Although it is the largest Bitcoin bribery case on record, this is not the first time criminals have attempted to bribe government officials and law enforcement with digital assets.

In 2022, the US Justice Department revealed that Chinese intelligence officers paid a bribe of $61,000 in bitcoin to a double agent working on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

BONUS: Best Wallet – Hottest New Crypto Wallet On The Market, Tons Of Unique Features AND An Airdrop

 

Best Wallet is a new crypto wallet app available on Google and Apple’s app stores. It is a multi-chain wallet, with over 60 chains currently supported. It is currently running a huge airdrop campaign, where participants can earn huge bags of its $BEST token.

Here Is The Best Way To Get Started On Your Airdrop Journey;

• Visit the Best Wallet airdrop page here .
• Sign up by connecting your X (formerly Twitter) account.
• Once done, you can now complete different quests in order to earn points. The more points you accrue, the more $BEST tokens you receive.
• Connect your Discord account. This is so you can be rewarded further for participating in the Discord community and events with extra points.
• Once you register to participate in the Best Airdrop, you will be generated a unique referral code. This will be found on the “More info” tab. You can then share this referral code with your network. The more participants that register using your referral code, the more points you will generate.
• Most importantly, download the Best Wallet app and create a wallet. By connecting your Best Wallet via WalletConnect, you will gain a large points bonus. The earlier you do this, the more points you will accrue, meaning the bigger your $BEST airdrop will be.

Aside from the $BEST airdrop, Best Wallet has many incredible, stand-out features. One in particular is called ‘Upcoming Tokens’. It allows presale buyers to browse, buy, and track presales directly in-app. This streamlined approach makes purchasing presale tokens in Best Wallet quick, easy, and secure, eliminating the need to connect to potentially risky, external presale websites.

Here Are The Key Features Of The ‘Upcoming Tokens’ protocol;

• Get alerted to new presale’s at the earliest point (thus lowest price)
• Manage your presale portfolio in one place
• Avoid the risk of connecting to scam mirror sites
• Claim directly from the app (coming soon)
• Sell tokens directly within the Best Wallet app
• Earn points in Best Wallet airdrop just by having your wallet in Best Wallet
• Stay updated on claim dates, receive “3h to claim” notifications, and get reminders to top up gas before claiming

GET STARTED WITH BEST WALLET TODAY

DISCOVER:  BlackRock Believes Crypto Should Make Up 1-3% Of Portfolio As Macro Factors Are Driving Bitcoin’s Relevance

Join The 99Bitcoins News Discord Here For The Latest Market Updates

Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.