SHARE
COPY LINK

RUSSIA

Failed Ikea bribe leaves man jailed in Moscow

A Turkish national was convicted in a Moscow court on bribery and extortion charges and sentenced to five years behind bars for helping a Swedish executive at retail giant Ikea extort a bribe, Russian police said.

Failed Ikea bribe leaves man jailed in Moscow

Okan Yunalan was sentenced to five years for his participation in a scheme to extort a bribe of 6.5 million roubles ($198,393), the interior ministry said in a statement.

Police are still looking for the other two suspects, which include former Ikea executive Carl Ola.

Yunalan will spend his jail term in a prison colony, the police said. It was not clear in the statement when the hearing took place.

Yunalan was arrested in April 2011 red-handed in a Moscow coffee shop receiving a bribe of $255,000 from a businessman who was interested in renting space in Ikea’s Mega shopping centre south of Moscow.

According to the investigation, he was acting in the interests of Ola, who headed Ikea’s Russian subsidiary that handles real estate. Ikea has issued little comment only confirming that its former employees are under investigation.

Police previously said that Ola, who is accused of orchestrating the plot, and a second alleged accomplice, another Turkish national, were abroad and Russia was requesting extradition.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

RUSSIA

Russia announces no New Year’s greetings for France, US, Germany

US President Joe Biden, France's Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be receiving New Year's greetings from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Friday.

Russia announces no New Year's greetings for France, US, Germany

As the world gears up to ring in the New Year this weekend, Putin sent congratulatory messages to the leaders of Kremlin-friendly countries including Turkey, Syria, Venezuela and China.

But Putin will not wish a happy New Year to the leaders of the United States, France and Germany, countries that have piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow over Putin’s assault on Ukraine.

“We currently have no contact with them,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“And the president will not congratulate them given the unfriendly actions that they are taking on a continuous basis,” he added.

Putin shocked the world by sending troops to pro-Western Ukraine on February 24.

While Kyiv’s Western allies refused to send troops to Ukraine, they have been supplying the ex-Soviet country with weapons in a show of support that has seen Moscow suffer humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.

SHOW COMMENTS