Basir Isabekov, head of the Department of Land Management in Daghestan’s Magaramkent District, was arrested on 18 March while receiving a ₽1 million ($17,400) bribe. A criminal case has been launched against him.

A spokesperson for the Investigative Department of the Russian Investigative Committee in Daghestan told OC Media that the director demanded money from a local resident in exchange for solving an issue with a plot of land.

‘The local resident appealed to the director in the beginning of March in order to solve the land plot issue. The man said that he needed 10 hectares of land for farming. While they were discussing the issue, the official asked him to pay ₽1,008,000 to illegally draw up all the necessary documents. The man appealed to law enforcement bodies’, the spokesperson said.

A few days ago, a transfer of money was staged by Dagestan’s FSB. Isabekov was arrested while taking the bribe.

He is currently in custody and faces charges for taking a bribe of a particularly large amount.