Corruption scheme at the Codru City Hall: 35 searches, seven people detained and several suspected of issuing, for bribery, documents for construction in the capital

A corruption scheme was uncovered by the NAC officers and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office at the City Hall of Codru town from Chisinau municipality. City Hall employees, economic agents and dozens of beneficiaries came into the NAC and prosecutors’ view, after being documented in a case of influence peddling for several months. They are suspected of having acted in complicity and being involved in drawing up permissive documents for various constructions in the capital, for favoring the interests of some companies and for bribing some officials of Codru City Hall.

According to the materials of the case, the organizer of the scheme would be one of the local councilors of the City Hall Codru, who allegedly undertook to influence the decision-makers of the mayor's office, responsible for the completion of building permits, urban plans and other permissive acts. He allegedly acted in the interests of several companies and individuals, and in exchange for sums of money, he managed to positively influence the decisions of officials. As a result, the favored companies would have received the necessary documents for the construction of multi-storey buildings in residential areas of Chisinau.

Within the special investigation measures, it was established that the decision-makers within the City Hall and the Local Council of the Codru town would have systematically received money, in the amount of thousands of euros, to issue the necessary documents and to issue decisions in favor of several individuals and representatives of economic agents. Thus, there were episodes of extortion and bribery for issuing town planning certificates, organizing the voting of investment projects, but also cases of falsification of the minutes of reception of construction works of three constructions.

This morning, anti-corruption officers and prosecutors conducted 35 searches targeting the offices, homes and cars of several figures on the case, including the mayor, chief architect, cadastral engineer of Codru City Hall, representatives of economic agents and beneficiaries of scheme. Evidence relevant to the case was seized from the scene. Seven people were detained and placed in the NAC isolator for 72 hours and are being investigated for influence peddling. These are two local councilors, the chief architect, the secretary of the Council and the directors of two construction companies and one individual (beneficiary).

The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office conducts the criminal investigation. We remind you that any person is presumed to be innocent until a final and irrevocable court decision is pronounced.