MOSCOW, July 20 - RAPSI. Head of the Interior Ministry's Auditing Department for St. Petersburg Alexei Seredinin has been detained on suspicion of accepting a bribe to the value of $1.25 million, the Investigative Committee reports.

On Tuesday it was revealed that Seredinin is suspected of accepting a 40 million ruble plus ($1.25 million) bribe from a company which wanted to avoid prosecution from its creditors.

The Investigative Committee reported that Seredinin received this money between February and July 2011 via Alexei Smirnov, who acted as an intermediary.

In previous statements, the committee reported that the intermediary had been detained, while Seredinin was in hospital and the question of his detention would be decided after the assessment of his health.

Smirnov is now under criminal investigation for mediation in bribery, which is punishable by up to 12 years in prison.

Seredinin has been charged with large-scale bribery committed by an official, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years behind bars.

"Both suspects have now been detained. Their custody terms and charges are currently being considered," the Investigative Committee said.