Houses, cars, land, luxury goods, cash, accounts and even virtual currency – if obtained, held or used illegally, they are considered criminal assets, and the owners… can be left without them. The state is to collect and use them, and the recovery process is very complex and may take several years.

The process starts with the exchange of information between public institutions, natural or legal persons and even international institutions, and when financial investigations are started, they can be carried out by several institutions.

The Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) can only carry out investigations at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, the National Anticorruption Center, the General Police Inspectorate, the Customs Service and the State Tax Service. The CARA cannot work independently of other institutions and has no right to initiate parallel financial investigations without an official delegation.

The division can conduct parallel financial investigations in the prosecution of 55 types of crimes – including: corruption, organized crime, money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking, smuggling, tax evasion. That is, crimes that belong not only to the competence of the National Anticorruption Center and the Prosecutor's Office, but also to the competence of the General Police Inspectorate, the Customs Service and the State Fiscal Service.

Steps to recover criminal assets

If, as a result of the investigations, criminal assets were found, then the sequestration follows, i.e. the prohibition of the alienation of the assets and, sometimes, the use of the assets until the final decision of the court. The CARA is the only institution that, in addition to sequestration, has the competence to freeze assets.

Once seized, the assets are administered by the specialized institutions, until their confiscation. The CARA is responsible for the assessment, administration and anticipated disposal of assets seized for the 55 crimes under its jurisdiction, the Ministry of Finance administers the assets seized for other types of crimes, and the State Fiscal Service is responsible for assets that can easily be altered.

After the confiscation decision, the assets are effectively recovered by the State Fiscal Service and the bailiffs. The state can collect and use confiscated assets or their value, and certain assets can be subject to social reuse.

Starting in 2021, the Soros Foundation Moldova cooperates with the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA), offering the technical assistance and support for increasing institutional capacities, defining work processes, improving communication, assessing needs, developing the normative framework and related legislation.