MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) - The head of the Investigation Committee at Russia's top prosecutor's office signed a decree Monday dismissing Dmitry Dovgy, who led a series of high-profile probes recently, a committee spokesman said.

"This decision was taken following a check into Dovgy's activities," Vladimir Markin said, adding that the inspections indicated that Dovgy had divulged confidential information and was negligent in carrying out his duties.

Dovgy, head of the main investigative arm at the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, led inquiries against Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak and General Alexander Bulbov, a former senior drug control official, both in jail on suspicion of embezzling $43 million in state funds, and divulging state secrets and illegal phone tapping respectively.

It has also been alleged that Dovgy accepted 2 million euros in exchange for releasing former Trust Bank chairman Oleg Kolyda from custody in an embezzlement case involving Yukos subsidiary Tomskneft.

A colleague has allegedly accused him of taking $1.5 million from a suspect in a criminal case involving the head of Moscow company Petro-Union.

According to reports in the Russian media, earlier this month, Dovgy appealed to the Prosecutor General's Office for help, saying his life was in danger.

He wrote in the letter that he trusted neither his boss, Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin, nor his colleagues, adding that he was being followed and that his home in Moscow was being watched.