MOSCOW, December 9. /TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee has handled nearly 25,000 corruption cases this year, the committee’s spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, said on Friday, which marks International Anti-Corruption Day.
"Over the first nine months of 2016, the Investigative Committee’s departments considered almost 29,000 reports on corruption crimes opening over 19,500 criminal cases. The Investigative Committee handled 24,766 criminal cases on corruption crimes, including those on bribes, fraud, embezzlement and abuse of power," she said.
"Over the past 6 years, investigators sent to court over 50,000 criminal cases on corruption crimes, with more than 3,600 individuals with a special legal status, namely, parliamentarians, judges, lawyers and others becoming defendants in them," she explained.
Petrenko emphasized that the "Investigative Committee swiftly responds to every such instance, including to corruption among its employees regardless of rank, position and past achievements." She added that 21 Investigative Committee employees had been charged with criminal offences earlier this year.