ST. PETERSBURG, July 20 (RAPSI) – A prosecutor has demanded 14 years in penal colony for ex-lawmaker of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Roman Koval, who stands charged with receiving bribes on a large scale, the Joint press service of St. Petersburg courts has told RAPSI.

In addition to the prison term the prosecutor asked to fine the defendant 88 million rubles (over $1.5 million) and to prohibit him from holding state service posts for 7 years.

In July 2020, Koval was arrested on bribery allegations. According to investigators, between 2018 and 2020 he repeatedly took bribes personally and through his assistant. He allegedly used his official position in submitting and adopting lawmakers’ amendments to the city budget. The funds were allocated as subsidies for state healthcare institutions for the purchase of equipment and materials from the firms of a bribe giver.

According to the case papers, in 2019 he received three bribes totaling nearly 8.7 million rubles. In 2018, investigators claim, he took a new Audi Q7 car as a bribe; in 2020, he received money and property worth over 16.9 million rubles.