NAC Synthesis: Remarkable Results in OECD Anti-Corruption Assessment, Searches in High-profile Cases and Confirmed Seizures of Assets Worth 1.8 Million Lei
The National Anti-Corruption Centre (NAC) has announced the summary of the activities carried out during the previous week. Thus, the Republic of Moldova was successfully represented by the NAC at the Plenary Meeting of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), during which the Report on the Assessment of the Progress of our Country in the Fight against Corruption, developed in the context of the 5th Monitoring Round of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP), was adopted. According to the report, the Republic of Moldova recorded the greatest progress in the following areas: Whistle-blower Protection – +16.8 points compared to the 2023 assessment, Anti-corruption Policies – +9.9 points, Independence of the Judiciary – +6.1 points and Independence of the Prosecutor’s Office – +7.6 points. The NAC played a central role in this process, ensuring national coordination of the assessment and providing constant support to the authorities involved.
On the anti-corruption component, the NAC conducted searches at the owner of a construction company, thus continuing the criminal investigation in the case concerning the fire in a residential block in Durlești and in a case of abuse of office, with particularly large damages to the budget of the local public administration in Taraclia. Also, the Chișinău Court, Buiucani seat, found a citizen of the Republic of Moldova and three foreign citizens guilty of committing the crime of influence peddling, and the Edineț Court convicted the mayor of a village in the Edineț district of committing the crime of passive corruption and sentenced him to 5 years of suspended imprisonment, obliging him to pay over 540,000 lei. During the reporting period, the NAC's criminal investigation officers initiated 4 new criminal cases. At the moment, 2 persons are in the NAC Detention Centre, and 3 persons, targeted in the Centre’s files, are arrested and detained in penitentiary institutions.
During the reference period, the NAC's Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) seized assets of illicit origin in a total value of approximately 500 thousand lei, as part of ongoing investigations. Also, the seizures previously applied to assets of over 1.8 million lei were confirmed by court decisions.
In the field of corruption prevention, several activities were carried out. Thus, the Anti-corruption Education Directorate launched the "Integrity for Children" campaign in holiday camps - an educational initiative aimed at promoting ethical values and preventing corruption from a young age. The NAC Legislation Department submitted 13 anti-corruption expert reports and 4 opinions to the authors of draft normative acts. The Analytical Department completed 5 operational analyses relevant to the process of identifying and preventing corruption risks.
Also, during the mentioned period, 1706 materials were registered in the NAC Chancellery, 144 integrity records were issued and 52 calls were received at the National Anti-corruption Hotline – 0 800 55555.