Yekaterinburg investigators detained several officials of the Federal Penitentiary Service’s Chelyabinsk regional branch.

      Several senior officials of the Chelyabinsk regional directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service (GUFSIN) are suspected of corruption and have been detained, Interfax reported on Friday. The investigation is being handled by Yekaterinburg investigators of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

      An interlocutor in law enforcement told Interfax that criminal cases were opened by the 4th Investigative Directorate of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia (based in Yekaterinburg) under part 6 of Article 290 (receiving a bribe on an especially large scale, by a group of persons by prior agreement or by an organized group), subparagraphs "g" and "e" of part 3 of Article 286 (exceeding official authority), and part 5 of Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (giving a bribe to an official on an especially large scale).

      "The first deputy head of the directorate, Colonel Sergey Bulchuk; the head of the OSB of the GUFSIN for the region, Colonel Oleg Mokhov; the agency's chief accountant, Colonel Marina Ufimtseva; and a representative of a commercial organization suspected of giving bribes to the named officials have been detained," the agency interlocutor said.

      "The suspects, among other things, used production facilities and inmates of penal institutions for personal enrichment," the Interfax source added.

      The detentions were carried out by officers of the UFSB of Russia for the Chelyabinsk region together with colleagues from the Main Directorate of the FSIN Security Service. Investigative and operational actions are being carried out at the service and residential addresses of the suspects. A decision on the application of a preventive measure is being considered.