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The criminal case regarding the SCJ magistrate
25.10.2022 3447 ViewsIn March 2022, anti-corruption prosecutors and officers of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) conducted searches at the office, home and car of the interim president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), targeted in a criminal case initiated on the fact of illicit enrichment. The Superior Council of the Magistracy issued the consent for the searches, at the request of the acting general prosecutor at the time, Dumitru Robu. As a result of the criminal investigation carried out, no coercive procedural measure was applied to the magistrate. Later, the judge was recognized as a suspect in the criminal case initiated for illicit enrichment.
In carrying out the investigations on the case, all the information released in the mass media, as well as those obtained during the execution of the criminal investigation, were subjected to verification. As part of the criminal investigation, the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) was ordered to carry out parallel financial investigations in order to determine the amount of income obtained and the expenses incurred by the judge during the exercise of the function of public dignity, the identification of undeclared sources of income and personally owned assets or through third parties on the territory of the Republic of Moldova or in other jurisdictions.
Analyzing the administered evidentiary material as a whole, in conjunction with the results of the parallel financial investigation carried out by the CARA in the case in question, up to the stage of the expiration of the suspect term, September 22, 2022, it was found that no evidence was identified that would state the decision to indict. As a result, it was decided to remove the suspect from criminal prosecution, but with the continuation of the criminal prosecution because procedural actions were not finished until September 22. In the event that new evidence will be acquired, which was not known at the time of the removal of criminal prosecution, the prosecutor's office will undertake the actions required by law.
We remind, the suspect status can be assigned to a person for a maximum period of 6 months.
The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office and the NAC will return with additional details on the conduct of the investigations respecting the presumption of innocence.