Russia's former anti-corruption chief has been jailed for 22 years after being found guilty of running an extortion racket.

Denis Sugrobov, the former head of the Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption at Russia's Interior Ministry, was arrested in February 2014.

Prosecutors told the court that Sugrobov and his deputy, Boris Kolesnikov, had attempted to frame a Russian security agent by posing as businessmen willing to pay for his “protection.” They then planned to extort $10,000 from the agent by threatening to expose his illegal protection racket.

Police ultimately seized an estimated 300 million rubles ($4.1 million) from the pair, Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.

Sugrobov's was eventually charged with exceeding his official authority and establishing a criminal organization.

His lawyer has already announced that he intends to appeal the verdict.