MOSCOW, October 3 (RAPSI) – Police have detained members of an organized criminal group that allegedly offered high-ranking governmental positions for sale, the Interior Ministry reports on Thursday.

The suspected felons allegedly pretended to be representatives of high-ranking state officials. One the accused fraudsters turned out to be a former member of the Central Council of the political party A Just Russia, his name was not disclosed in the police statement.

The fraudsters offered an entrepreneur help with being appointed vice-governor of Russia’s Ryazan region, according to the statement. They allegedly demanded EUR 150,000 as a down payment. Later, after negotiations, the price was dropped to 5 million rubles, according to the police.

The exchange allegedly took place in the parking lot of Moscow’s Ukraina Hotel. The criminal case was opened on the grounds of large-scale fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. A search of  the suspects’ homes and offices turned up a number of forged documents and IDs, as well as an illegal firearm.