MOSCOW, August 23 (RAPSI) – The Presnensky District Court of Moscow on Monday sentenced the beneficiary of the Crimean cognac distillery Bakhchisarai Pavel Klimets to 9 years in high-security penal colony for attempt to give a bribe to investigative and judiciary officials, the court’s press service told RAPSI.

Two other defendants in the case were also convicted. Subordinates of the businessman Yulia Samoylova and Andrey Grokholsky received 8 and 5 years in jail respectively.

Investigators claimed that Klimets attempted to save his distillery in a tangled criminal situation and tried to find a way to give a bribe to an official.

The court found that Grokholsky promised Klimets to lift the seizure of the distillery and to dismiss criminal proceedings for 20 million rubles ($270,000). Later, it was revealed that Grokholsky had no power to drop the case.