A golden toilet and other luxury items were found in the mansion of a Russian cop during the investigation of a bribery scheme run by dozens of senior traffic police officers. The Investigative Committee (SK) website has released a video showing extravagant interiors in a huge mansion, which was among the many properties raided. Col Alexei Safonov, the head of traffic police in the southern Stavropol region, was arrested with six others. The gang of corrupt traffic cops allegedly took bribes for issuing fake permits to businesses. The permits allegedly enabled drivers to pass through police checkpoints with unauthorised cargoes of grain and building materials.

The cops received 19 million rubles (Rs 1.9 crore) in bribes “for several years”. Photos show floors and walls tiled with marble as a huge baroque-style mirror hangs in the background next to a bathroom cabinet that has been painted gold. A second bathroom has a double-end bathtub, his and hers sinks and a gold-painted shower cubicle, while a chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

From the gold staircase to the ceiling frescoes, gilt wallpaper, ornate bed frame, drape curtains and works of art that adorn the walls to a sauna and billiads room, the mansion gives a glimpse of the lavish lifestyle of the cops funded by the bribes. The accused cops have not yet commented on the charges. The committee said that it conducted about 80 searches, including in traffic police offices, and seized large quantities of cash, luxury cars and documents of interest. If found guilty, Safonov faces between 8 and 15 years in jail. His predecessor Alexander Arzhanukhin was among those arrested. Pro-Kremlin United Russia party MP Alexander Khinshteyn said that more than 35 traffic police officers in the region had been detained. “In essence, a real kind of mafia has been operating in Stavropol, profiting from everything: from black market number plates and cargo permits, to deliveries of sand,” he said on Telegram.

News Source : India.com