The Investigative Committee has opened a case against three judges from Stavropol Krai.

The main defendant is Mikhail Khripunov, the former deputy chairman of the Stavropol Regional Court, whom investigators accuse of accepting a bribe. Artem Sergeev, the former deputy chairman of the Nevinnomyssk City Court, and Timur Nabokov, a former judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Stavropol, are accused in the case as intermediaries in the bribery.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," in February, a case was opened against Adam Voitlev, a retired judge of the Shovgenovsky District Court of Adygea. He is charged with accepting a bribe of 2.5 million rubles.

The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, has opened a criminal case against three retired judges from the Stavropol Territory for preparing to accept bribes, acting as an intermediary in bribery, and accepting bribes.

"Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Alexander Bastrykin, with the consent of the High Qualification Collegium of Judges, has opened a criminal case on charges of preparing to accept bribes, acting as an intermediary in bribery, and accepting bribes against Mikhail Khripunov, a retired deputy chairman of the Stavropol Krai Court; Timur Nabokov, a retired judge of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Stavropol; and Artem Sergeev, a retired deputy chairman of the Nevinnomyssk City Court," agency spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko told TASS.

According to investigators, in August and December 2023, Sergeev, Nabokov, and a certain Sergei Mikhailov acted as intermediaries, offering Khripunov bribes of 1 million and 3 million rubles. The money was intended to exchange the pretrial detention measures for two defendants in other criminal cases for house arrest. Khripunov agreed, but the court denied the defense's motions, so the funds were not transferred. Furthermore, in December 2023, Nabokov, through intermediary Evgeny Sokurenko, received 50,000 rubles for satisfying a debt collection claim. And in July 2024, Khripunov, through the mediation of Mikhailov and Nabokov, received 500,000 rubles for assisting in upholding a court decision in a civil case.

The intermediaries Sokurenko and Mikhailov were detained; Mikhailov was remanded in custody. The court placed Sokurenko under house arrest, Vedomosti quotes Petrenko as saying.

Mikhail Khripunov resigned after 30 years of service, according to RAPSI. He had previously appeared at a meeting of the High Qualification Collegium of Judges (HQCJ), submitting written objections challenging the fact that he had committed crimes and expressing doubts about the reliability of the evidence obtained. In his written objections, he stated that the investigation had not collected sufficient evidence to initiate a criminal case, RBK reported. Caucasian Knot also reported that on February 9, former chairperson of the Sovetsky District Court of Rostov-on-Don, Elena Kobleva, was found guilty of accepting a large bribe and sentenced to 10 years in a general regime penal colony.