BARNAUL, Russia -- A court in the western Siberian city of Barnual has sentenced a local police investigator to five years in prison for fraud and abuse of his official position, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports.
Prosecutors said 33-year-old Dmitry Kazantsev had opened an investigation several years ago into the smuggling of goods worth tens of millions of rubles.
Kazantsev forged documents saying that he was moving some of the confiscated goods from one warehouse to another and then attempted to sell the goods, resulting in losses to the state of 1 million rubles ($32,500).
Kazantsev worked in the town of Gornyak, which is a main border crossing and customs checkpoint between Russia and Kazakhstan.
There are frequent attempts to smuggle goods across the border. Confiscated goods are kept in a warehouse to be used as evidence in criminal cases.
Prosecutors said 33-year-old Dmitry Kazantsev had opened an investigation several years ago into the smuggling of goods worth tens of millions of rubles.
Kazantsev forged documents saying that he was moving some of the confiscated goods from one warehouse to another and then attempted to sell the goods, resulting in losses to the state of 1 million rubles ($32,500).
Kazantsev worked in the town of Gornyak, which is a main border crossing and customs checkpoint between Russia and Kazakhstan.
There are frequent attempts to smuggle goods across the border. Confiscated goods are kept in a warehouse to be used as evidence in criminal cases.