A sacked Russian police chief who became notorious for owning a golden loo has been jailed for 20 years for corruption.
Alexey Safonov, 45, a traffic police colonel from southern Russia's Stavropol, was busted along with 35 of his officers who were accused of running a 'Mafia gang'.
Picture shows ex head of the Stavropol State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Police Colonel Alexey Safonov. (@gibdd26/Newsflash)
Prosecutor said Safonov and his cop cronies creamed off a fortune by extorting motorists and taking bribes to fund lavish lifestyles.
Judges at Cherkessk City Court in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic found the shamed police chief guilty of 99 counts of corruption at a hearing on 12th May.
He was also found guilty of forming a criminal organisation and fined RUB 100 million (GBP 930,000) and officially stripped of his police rank.
Until his arrest in 2021 Safonov had been the powerful head of a regional traffic squad for 11 years.
The luxurious house of the head of the Stavropol State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Police Colonel Alexei Safonov where the police found a toilet bowl and plumbing that are trimmed with gold. Note: Private picture (@Hinshtein/Newsflash)
The court banned him from holding any post in law enforcement or state bodies for 12 years and ordered him to serve an additional year of house arrest following his release from jail.
Safonov had denied all charges and claimed he did not know any of his co-accused in the case, despite them working for him.
Police first detained the police chief and his 35 henchmen in 2021 following an investigation by the Russia's FSB secret service into systemic corruption.
The luxurious house of the head of the Stavropol State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Police Colonel Alexei Safonov where the police found a toilet bowl and plumbing that are trimmed with gold. Note: Private picture (@Hinshtein/Newsflash)
Prosecutors said the gang made at least RUB 19 million (GBP 178,000) alone from issuing bogus permits to truckers.
They also cashed in on selling personalised car number plates to wealthy customers.
Safonov's kitsch mansion in Stavropol, complete with chandeliers, stucco ceilings, and a now-notorious gold-plated lavatory, became a symbol of the scandal.
Rooms were clad in thick marble and heavy, baroque mirrors hung from the walls along with artwork in gilt frames.
The lavish home, apparently modelled on a Tsar's palace, even had its own spa and billiards room.
The luxurious house of the head of the Stavropol State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Police Colonel Alexei Safonov where the police found a toilet bowl and plumbing that are trimmed with gold. Note: Private picture (@Hinshtein/Newsflash)
But Safonov claimed the loo was snapped up for a bargain RUB 8,000 (GBP 75) at a market and simply painted gold.
In court, he said other luxury items were budget purchases including printed cardboard artwork and cheap chandeliers from online marketplaces.
But prosecutors valued his property holdings at more than RUB 184 million (GBP 1.7 million), including five luxury cars worth more than RUB 27 million (GBP 250,000).
The year-long trial had more than 50 adjournments and finally ended last month (April).
Russian legal experts say the case remains one of the country's highest-profile examples of police corruption.
(MJ Leidig/newsX)