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Home / Mass-Media / Events / NAC officers and anti-corruption prosecutors searched the secretary of the Working Group in the field of public procurement within Cahul City Hall
NAC officers and anti-corruption prosecutors searched the secretary of the Working Group in the field of public procurement within Cahul City Hall
29.05.2023
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The officers of the General Territorial Directorate (GTD) South of the NAC and the prosecutors of the Southern Office of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office carried out searches, this morning, at the City Hall of the municipality of Cahul, as part of a criminal case initiated on acts of abuse of office. According to the case materials, decision-makers of the Cahul City Hall would have favored several economic agents by concluding procurement contracts, contrary to public interests, which caused considerable damage to the public budget.
From the accumulated evidence, there is a reasonable suspicion that, in the period from 2021 until now, the secretary of the Working Group in the field of procurement of goods, services and works, would have divided the public procurement procedures, carried out by the City Hall of the municipality of Cahul, into contracts of small value, to avoid the tender procedure. In this way, the official independently organized the low-value procurement procedure, by personally examining the offers and awarding the contracts to certain economic agents.
During the investigations and prosecution actions it was found that, by signing the contracts of low value, several contractors were favored who proposed higher prices for the services provided, to the detriment of other bidders who proposed their services at much lower prices. During 2022 alone, Cahul City Hall made an impressive number of low-value purchases, which aimed at construction and repair works of kindergartens in the municipality, the "Nicolae Botgros" Palace of Culture, the stadium in Cahul, etc., causing considerable damage to the public budget.
To confirm the evidence administered by the criminal investigation body, searches were carried out today in the office of the secretary of the Public Procurement Working Group of Cahul City Hall, where procurement contracts and other information carriers were seized. The official was escorted to the headquarters of the GTD South of the NAC to be presented with the suspect order.
The Southern Office of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is conducting the criminal investigation.