Russians accepted $27M in bribes between Jan. and Oct., prosecutor says

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The general prosecutor's office in Russia said Tuesday Moscow officials accepted $27 million in bribes over the first nine months of 2018.

Spokesman Alexander Kurennoy said Russian officials took the bribes between January and September, while aired by the office's new interactive video service Efir Tuesday.

Kurrennoy said bribery cases in Russia rose by 3 percent to nearly 10,200 this year -- including the giving and taking of bribes, and prosecutions for facilitating bribery increased by 16 percent.

The amount of the average bribe was $9,140, officials said.

Nearly 200 large-scale bribes amounted to $22.5 million, an average of $121,000.

Bribe-giving was most common in Moscow and the Krasnodar region over the nine months. Moscow and regions of Rostov, Moscow and Chelyabinsk also led in a rating for bribe taking over the same period.

Anti-corruption activists said the official figure of $27 million may be an underestimate, given the country's low ranking in transparency and high-ranking in corruption.