Key Takeaways
- Russia confiscated $10M in Bitcoin from ex-official Marat Tambiev.
- Tambiev accepted 2,718 BTC bribe, the largest in Russian history.
- The Bitcoin was linked to the Infraud Organization hacker group.
Record-breaking bribery case
The Russian government has confiscated Bitcoin valued at $10 million from Marat Tambiev, a former employee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF), as part of a bribery case involving cryptocurrency.
Details of the conviction
Tambiev, sentenced to 16 years in prison in October 2024, was convicted of accepting 2,718 BTC in bribes, a sum worth approximately $258 million.
The case marks the largest bribery scandal in Russian history. Enforcement officers discovered Tambiev’s hardware wallet—a Ledger Nano X—on his laptop, stored in a folder labeled “Retirement.”
The hacker connection
The bribes originated from the hacker group Infraud Organization, whose members, including citizens of Kazakhstan and Estonia, reportedly paid Tambiev in exchange for procedural leniency in their own cases.
The group aimed to evade prosecution and conceal cryptocurrency assets valued at 14 billion rubles ($138 million).
Asset recovery & seizure
Despite the massive bribe, only 103 BTC (about 4% of the total amount) was confiscated. This Bitcoin, valued at roughly $10 million, will be added to Russian state revenue.
In 2023, an earlier court ruling ordered the seizure of 1,032 BTC from Tambiev, worth approximately $98 million at the time, citing these as unverified income.
Implications
This high-profile case has spotlighted the intersection of crime, government corruption, and the rising use of Bitcoin in illicit activities.
