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Ex-Russian minister jailed for 8 years over $2m bribe

By AP

Published : Dec. 15, 2017 - 20:14

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Former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev (right) in bribery trial. (Yonhap) Former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev (right) in bribery trial. (Yonhap)
Russia's former economics minister has been sentenced to eight years in a maximum security prison after being convicted of accepting a $2 million bribe.

Alexei Ulyukayev, the highest-ranking Russian official to have been arrested since 1993, was detained last year at the headquarters of Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft, after a sting operation by Russia's main intelligence agency. 

Ulyukayev has denied the charges and said Rosneft's chief executive Igor Sechin, a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin, set him up.

A Moscow court on Friday also ordered Ulyukayev to pay a $2.2 million- fine. Prosecutors earlier this month asked the court to send him to a high-security prison for ten years. (AP)