A Russian man in Bali has been sentenced to three years in prison for extortion, in which he claimed to be an Interpol officer to rob another foreigner.
The Denpasar District Court handed the sentence to 56-year-old Evgenii Bagriantse in an online hearing on Tuesday, public prosecutor I Made Dipa Umbara confirmed today.
Case prosecutors are mulling filing an appeal, as Evgenii’s sentence is one year short of the four years they had demanded.
In February 2021, Evgenii visited a vehicle rental business owned by an Uzbekistan national in Canggu. There, Evgenii claimed to be a member of Interpol and accused the victim of running an illegal business.
Evgenii extorted the victim and demanded him to hand over 21 of his motorbikes, threatening to report the matter to Indonesian authorities if he didn’t comply. Evgenii’s terror continued, as he would send the victim messages via WhatsApp accusing him of drug trafficking as well.
In late May, Evgenii contacted the victim and requested IDR400 million (US$28,019) and one Yamaha N-Max motorbike as a “security fee.” The victim complied with his request as he’d feared prison time, but grew suspicious and eventually reported the matter to actual authorities on July 1. Evgenii was arrested soon after.
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