According to police, a 35-year-old Swedish citizen delayed the conclusion of lease contracts last February with a potential tenant in an IKEA-owned Moscow MEGA mall, abusing his post.
The other two IKEA managers, of Turkish citizenship, offered to help resolve the issue for an initial reward of $360,000, Andrey Pilipchuk, spokesman for Interior Ministry's Economic Security Department, told Reuters.
One of them was caught in the act of accepting a bribe, while the other one and the Swedish citizen are still wanted by the police.
IKEA declined immediate comment.
The low-cost, self-assembly furniture retailer has in the past been vocal about corruption in Russia, claiming red tape was holding back its expansion.
In 2009, it threatened to halt further expansion into Russia, citing pervasive corruption and red tape. The following year, the company sacked two executives for turning a blind eye to bribery by a subcontractor in Russia.
But in November, the company, which has invested about 2.5 billion euros in Russia since 2000, said it was looking to at least double its three-store footprint in Moscow and refurbish its 14 MEGA malls. (Reuters)
