A man, accused of committing two episodes of influence peddling in a case started by the National Anti-corruption Centre, was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The decision was recently pronounced by the Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters.

According to the materials, between October 2022 and September 2023, the defendant claimed and received from the whistleblower monetary means in the amount of 5,000 euros, under the pretext of influencing foreign public figures within the Romanian Embassy, in order to induce them to expedite the resolution of the recovery procedure of Romanian citizenship for the whistleblower's wife and his children. Later, under the same pretext, he also claimed the sum of 7,000 euros.

He also, in the same period, learning that an acquaintance of the whistleblower had been detained, under the pretext of influencing people with public dignity within the Prosecution Office and the Courts, claimed monetary means in the amount of 35,000 euros, in order to induce them to replace the preventive measure, from preventive detention to a milder one.

Later, claiming that he influenced the adoption of the solution regarding the replacement of the preventive measure, he reduced the initially claimed amount to 25,000 euros. Thus, under the control of the NAC’s criminal investigation body, the defendant received a part of the alleged sum of 8,000 euros.

The criminal investigation lasted 9 months, the criminal case being sent to court in December 2023. Therefore, on June 17, 2024, the court found the defendant guilty of committing influence peddling crimes (art. 326 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code), establishing -is a punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 3 years, with the execution of the sentence in a semi-closed penitentiary.

During the trial of the case, the defendant was in preventive detention, the preventive measure being maintained until the date when the sentence becomes final. At the same time, the funds in the amount of 5,000 euros were confiscated from the defendant and transferred to the state, as well as the 8,000 euros recognized as criminal property, as assets resulting from the crime. Also, the seizure applied up to the amount of 5,000 euros was maintained, in order to ensure and guarantee the special confiscation.

The sentence can be appealed to the Chisinau Court of Appeal within 15 days.

Note: A person accused of committing a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final court decision.