MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) – A former Moscow official shot himself dead on Wednesday on the day he was due to be sentenced after being convicted of abuse of office.
Vladimir Polyutov, former Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for State Property Management’s Moscow branch, was found dead in his apartment in southeastern city part, the police told RIA Novosti.
“The man had shot himself in the chest with a double-barrel shotgun and died of his injuries,” a city police spokesperson said.
Polyutov and his superior Tatyana Naidyonova, who were convicted by a jury, faced sentences of up to ten years from the Moscow City Court.
Naidyonova allegedly exceeded her authority by using state funds to buy shares belonging to foreign companies which were then acquired by Stankoimport, a state enterprise.
The pair then claimed shares belonging to the company were worth just 8.9 million rubles ($287,000), when they were actually worth over 2.5 billion rubles.