December 05, 2022

Money Laundering, in a Sense


Money Laundering, in a Sense
Your clothes may be clean, but the machine itself isn't. The RussianLife files.

Russian Colonel Ivan Mertvishchev has been charged with corruption after he accepted a washing machine as a bribe from a fellow army officer.

According to reports, Mertvishchev, an employee of the organizational and mobilization department of the Russian army's general staff, contacted a military commissar in charge of a recruiting district in and around Moscow. Mertvishchev told the commissar that he was stopping by for an inspection and said he was inclined to give a poor report to his superiors.

Mertvishchev then implied that the report could be turned to the positive if the commissar and his employees bought him a new washing machine worth at least R70,000 ($1150). The commissar pretended to agree, then turned to federal authorities to report the bribery demand. When Mervishchev appeared to take possession of his machine, he was arrested.

A washing machine is certainly a utilitarian gift. But, remarkably, it's not the oddest bribe we've covered.

You Might Also Like

A Glorious Gazebo
  • October 11, 2021

A Glorious Gazebo

A village in Bashkortostan has opened a new gazebo as a gathering place for the community, and photos certainly make it look welcoming.
Who Fishes for Fishers?
  • August 20, 2021

Who Fishes for Fishers?

A court has found two men guilty of poaching—men whose job it is to prevent the poaching of fish.
Yes, Dumplings are Still Bribes
  • December 11, 2020

Yes, Dumplings are Still Bribes

A police chief in Novosibirsk has been convicted of corruption charges after accepting Caucasian dumplings as brides.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Driving Down Russia's Spine
June 01, 2016

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955