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The Russian Foreign Ministry lost around $ 1 million in cash after Iran paid $ 1.5 million for its consular services.
Russian media reported on December 24 that the money was stolen from the headquarters of the country’s Foreign Ministry in Smolenskaya Square, the capital of Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry subsequently confirmed the loss of “a large amount of cash in the financial and monetary department” in 2019. Authorities have completed their investigation and the court is accepting the case.
Russian diplomats previously transferred $ 1.5 million in cash to the office of Natalia Agaltsova, a senior expert in the finance and foreign exchange department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in two bags and a case of wine. vodka. Agaltsova said she pressed the alarm button when counting cash and found that each deposit had only $ 100 bills on one end, with the rest being replaced by a $ 1 bill.
Headquarters of the Russian Foreign Ministry in Mosvka. Image: RIA Novosti.
Iran pays the consular service fee in cash, as its banks are subject to US sanctions and are said to have turned over the money to the Russian ambassador in Tehran. Officials at the Russian embassy in Iran confirmed that they had received the money, sealed them in containers and assigned security personnel to monitor 24/7.
Agaltsova said she was freaked out when she discovered the money was missing and tried to make up $ 200,000 in savings with a search at the office. Agaltsova also took out a bank loan to make up the difference, but was turned down. This official also committed suicide.
Russian media reported that Agaltsova was arrested and then placed under house arrest while authorities investigated the loss of money. Agaltsova has limited travel and is not allowed to leave her locality while interrogations are taking place.
During the last three days of 2019, cash was transferred outside the Russian Foreign Ministry building in daylight, the investigation team said. The video recorded by security cameras shows Agaltsova leaving the office with two suitcases. Apparently Russian officials also arrested the man who lived with Agaltsova, then released him and called for questioning as a witness.
Russian channel REN TV broadcast an interview with a Moscow man, who claimed to be Agaltsova’s neighbor, alleging that Agaltsova and the man who lived with him were guarding a locked box. This person said that investigators discovered more than $ 148,000 inside the box.
Mikhail Abyzov, a former Minister of Open Affairs of the Government of the Russian Federation, was arrested by the Federal Security Administration (FSB) in 2019 on charges of embezzlement of more than $ 62 million from the state budget. Abyzov is awaiting trial, the Russian government has eliminated the position he once held.
Nguyen tien (According to the RT, RIA Novosti)
