Russian Prosecutor General's Office wins legal case to confiscate over 1,000 bitcoins accepted as bribe

YEKATERINBURG. July 4 (Interfax) - The court has granted a motion of the Prosecutor General's Office to turn more than 1,000 bitcoins accepted earlier as a bribe into state revenue, Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov said.

"Literally two weeks ago, the court ruled to uphold our lawsuit to turn more than 1,000 bitcoins, which were equivalent to $23 million, into state income. They were earlier accepted as a bribe by an employee of an investigative body," Krasnov said at a meeting of the Interstate Council on Combating Corruption in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday.

Last year, an individual was convicted of accepting a bribe in bitcoins in Russia, and the judgment then entered into force, he said.

"Nowadays, the goals of identifying such assets and applying restraining measures to them are being successfully attained despite certain technical and legal difficulties. The scope of judicial and investigatory practice is constantly becoming broader," he said.

It seemed almost impossible to uncover and investigate such episodes just a few years ago, Krasnov said.