Who wants a be a millionaire? Russian teacher arrested after his answer involved EXTORTION from students

For public service workers, and salaried employees in general, life can often be frustrating. After all, living within your means often isn't much fun, and there's always a limit to what you can afford.

A teacher in the Russian city of Vladimir, 200km east of Moscow, resorted to criminal means to circumvent this impediment. Instead of accepting his circumstances, he decided to solicit bribes from his students to the tune of almost 5 million rubles ($63,000), ostensibly to complete a house.

Now Vladimir Pluzhnikov faces 12 years of prison time. Less than two months after his gross abuse of authority, the 33-year-old was arrested last week.

Pluzhnikov had been teaching classes at the Federal Penitentiary Service’s Law Institute in the Vladimir region since 2013, and had previously studied at the same institute.

According to investigators, the teacher told his students that, due to the cost of building a new house, he was in a difficult financial situation. It is alleged by the local Investigative Committee that he manipulated his students, promising them protection for around 300,000 rubles ($3,800) each.

Fearing negative consequences, they took bank loans and transferred money to Pluzhnikov. In total, 16 members of his class sent bribes to the sum of 4,680,000 rubles ($59,250).

Officials also suggest that the teacher suffered from gambling addiction.

According to reports, Pluzhnikov's desperate need for cash was clear from his social media activity. On social network 'Vkontakte' (Russia's answer to Facebook) he was a member of groups ‘Borrow Money’ and ‘Help with money’.

Following the successful receipt of bribes, Pluzhnikov immediately resigned from his work and applied for a low-paid administrative position.

However, he very quickly realized that the security services were on his tail and attempted to evade capture, fleeing to Moscow. He was found and arrested on March 23rd and is currently in custody.

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