The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office has announced the completion of the criminal investigation and referral to the court for substantive examination, of the criminal case accusing a counselor, for committing the crime of the abuse of office (327 paragraph 2 letter b)1).

The criminal investigation was started by the criminal investigation body of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) on September 21, 2020, based on a referral from the Intelligence and Security Service.

According to the address, the councelor hid the real number of requests for consular services, charged and did not account for the fees for the issuance by the Embassy of the Republic of Moldova in Bucharest of the confirmation certificates of driving licenses, issued by the Public Services Agency of the Republic of Moldova, for the purpose exchanging Moldovan driving licenses for Romanian ones, that resulted in a loss of 1796622.00 lei.

It should be noted that the accused admitted his guilt and voluntarily returned to the state budget the damages caused to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration in the amount of 1796622.00 lei.

The criminal case referred to justice is to be examined by the Chisinau Municipal Court, Buiucani headquarters.

For the crime committed, the law provides for the maximum penalty in the form of a fine ranging from 67,500 to 117,500 lei or imprisonment from 2 to 7 years, in both cases with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or exercise a certain activity from 5 to 10 years.