Moscow, Feb 2 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Two Russian police officers have been slapped with a fine of one million rubles for extorting a bribe of 7,000 rubles ($230) from a gambling hall owner.
The convicts, while running a protection racket, had taken the bribe from an illegal gambling hall's owner in the Stavropol city and did not close down the establishment for a month in 2009, the Prosecutor General's office said.
The duo was slapped a fine of 1.43 million rubles ($47,000) each, or more than 200 times the size of the bribe, the agency said on its website.
Both were also banned from serving in law enforcement agencies for three years, but spared jail time.
In 2011, the Kremlin passed legislation that allowed courts to punish corrupt officials with fines far exceeding the size of the bribes they received. Last month, a district head in the Republic of Tatarstan received an all-time record fine of 300 million rubles ($10 million) for a bribe of 5 million rubles.
The convicts, while running a protection racket, had taken the bribe from an illegal gambling hall's owner in the Stavropol city and did not close down the establishment for a month in 2009, the Prosecutor General's office said.
The duo was slapped a fine of 1.43 million rubles ($47,000) each, or more than 200 times the size of the bribe, the agency said on its website.
Both were also banned from serving in law enforcement agencies for three years, but spared jail time.
In 2011, the Kremlin passed legislation that allowed courts to punish corrupt officials with fines far exceeding the size of the bribes they received. Last month, a district head in the Republic of Tatarstan received an all-time record fine of 300 million rubles ($10 million) for a bribe of 5 million rubles.
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