NAC Synthesis: Corruption schemes exposed in Education and the fiscal field, seizures of 2.2 million lei applied by CARA and freezing orders issued on 31 assets worth over 6 million lei
The National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC) has presented the weekly balance sheet of the activities carried out in the fields of combating and preventing corruption, as well as of the measures to recover assets derived from crimes. During the reference period, anticorruption officers uncovered a scheme to embezzle funds held by the Gheorghe Asachi Theoretical Lyceum in the municipality of Chisinau. Two persons with management positions within the institution, as well as decision-makers of a group of economic agents, are under criminal investigation for acts of embezzlement, passive corruption and influence peddling. According to the investigation, the institution's representatives allegedly organized fictitious employment and systematically demanded, accepted and received financial means from various economic agents - equivalent to approximately 10% of the value of contracts for the purchase of goods, services and works. The Chisinau Court, Ciocana headquarters, ordered preventive arrest for 30 days for two detained persons, and the institution's deputy is being investigated at large. At the same time, the NAC documented a systemic corruption scheme within the State Fiscal Service. The criminal case was opened based on reasonable suspicions of committing the crimes of influence peddling and passive corruption. According to the accumulated evidence, the officials allegedly demanded amounts of up to 500 euros, depending on the severity of the irregularities found, in order not to draw up tax control documents, to omit documenting violations or to apply milder sanctions. One of the officials was placed under house arrest.
During the same period, the presidents of the Criuleni and Ialoveni Territorial Offices of a former political party, investigated by the NAC, APO and SIS, were sentenced to 4 years of suspended imprisonment. The NAC's criminal investigation officers initiated 12 criminal cases, and currently 3 people are in the institution's isolation ward, and another 16 are detained in prisons, being preventively arrested.
The NAC's Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) issued two freezing orders on bank accounts, 22 real estate properties and 9 means of transport, worth a total of about 6.3 million lei. The agency also seized a means of transport estimated at over 100 000 lei, in a file regarding the organization of illegal migration. Seizures previously applied, worth about 2.2 million lei, were confirmed by court decisions.
In the field of corruption prevention, the Legislation Directorate submitted 7 legislative expertise reports and 3 opinions to the authors. At the same time, 122 integrity records were issued, and 38 calls were received at the National Anti-corruption Line. 1444 materials were registered in the institution's Chancellery.