Tens of people, who lost their temporary or permanent work capacity were forced to pay money to the experts from the National Council for Determining Disability and Work Capacity (CNDDCM) to confirm or reconfirm their disability degrees.

In exchange for a bribe some healthy people could receive disability degree as well, in complicity with some medical experts from the CNDDCM, they would have forged their infirmity, obtaining special state pensions. Thus, the money paid for one disability certificate ranged from a few hundred euros to tens of thousands of lei.

This is the result of documentation and investigation conducted for several months by the National Anticorruption Center and prosecutors in a criminal scheme initiated by the CNDDCM employees together with the members of the territorial structure of the Council. Following the criminal prosecution actions, it was found that they had claimed money from persons who would have lost their temporary or permanent work capacity in order to draw up a set of documents to grant them the degree of disability. The gathered materials show that the experts asked money for allegedly bribing the employees involved in the process of granting the disability degree, starting with diagnosing disabilities ending with issuing final certificate. The requested amounts ranged between 250 and 600 euros, depending on the degree of disability, and for a “degree of disability for life”, the alleged bribe reached up to several thousands of lei.

Around 50 episodes of passive and active corruption, as well as influence peddling were identified during investigations, committed by the employees of the National Council for Determining Disability and Work Capacity and by some public officials from Rezina Territorial Service. The video and audio recordings, obtained within criminal investigation, reveal the entire scheme of granting degrees of disability, requesting patients to pay them bribes to corrupt the officials, as well as dividing the money, received as bribes among experts. In one of the episodes, a mother of a blind child, whose degree of disability must have been legally established for life, was convinced to pay the experts 650 euros as gratitude for provided services. From the collected evidence, it was identified that the woman was called by the experts from the territorial office in Rezina, abusing their position, they invited her to the headquarters to force her pay the mentioned bribe.

The investigation results demonstrate another method of fraud of disability granting procedure, this time, for the persons without disability or other health problems. To obtain state pension, they agreed with some experts, who, in their turn, for different amount of money, “insured” a chronical or incurable malady. Some persons received disability pensions, being even abroad, at work. Thus, the mentioned actions of the public officials generated damage to the state budget in considerable proportions.

To be noted, that 20 persons, involved in 40 criminal cases, are to be taken to the National Anticorruption Center and Prosecution’s Office for further proceedings, 7 of them were already arrested for 72 hours. They are suspected of trading in influence, active and passive corruption, if found guilty, they risk up to 10 years of imprisonment, criminal fines and deprivation of the right to hold certain public positions.

We remind, that every person is presumed to be innocent until the final and irrevocable decision of the court is pronounced. The NAC and prosecutors have been supported by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection.

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office is conducting criminal investigation.