The chief accountant for the Khabarovsk Territory traffic police is suspected of embezzling 26 million rubles ($880,000), a spokesman for prosecutors in the Far Eastern Russian region said on Thursday.

"In respect of the chief accountant, a case has been opened under Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code [large-scale fraud], the maximum penalty for which is 10 years in prison," the representative of the Khabarovsk branch of the Prosecutor General's Office said.

Investigators allege the accountant used false financial documents to divert more than 26 million rubles of Interior Ministry funds in 2008 and 2009.

The spokesman added that the suspect is also believed to have used a forged university degree when he was appointed to the top finance post.

President Dmitry Medvedev pledged to fight corruption when he entered office in May 2008, highlighting the issue as one of the country's most serious problems.

A series of scandals involving police in 2009 culminated in a presidential decree ordering a major overhaul of the Interior Ministry, with personnel cuts of 20% over two years to be balanced by higher salaries for remaining staff.

KHABAROVSK, January 14 (RIA Novosti)