Fifteen employees of the General Inspectorate of Border Police are being investigated by the NAC and anti-corruption prosecutors, within a complex dossier, initiated on June 23, 2021, that consists of 59 episodes, including 38 cases of bribery claims and 21 of other offences. The criminal case was initiated following the operative information that resulted in the identification of the entire corruption scheme. The subdivisions of the Security and Intelligence Service, as well as the General Inspectorate of Border Police were involved in the documentation process.

As the result of the operative actions, it was discovered that the employees of the Border Police Directorate “Chisinau International Airport”, while exercising professional duties, in the context of the restrictions imposed by the epidemiological situation, created and implemented a scheme of obtaining illegally money from the passengers who had been leaving the country and who were suspected of presenting «COVID-19» PCR tests with the signs of falsification. Thus, the involved border guards allegedly accepted and received systematically from the citizens who crossed the RM border, upon departure, bribes between 50 -100 euros.

It was also found out that the GIBP employees, while exercising their duties, allegedly extorted money from different people, both Moldovan citizens and foreigners, who intended to cross the state border of the Republic of Moldova through the Chisinau International Airport, upon departure, not to draw any minutes for not complying with measures of preventing and combating epidemic diseases and public health, established by the competent authorities and of violating the rules of residence in the Republic of Moldova.

At this stage, there are 15 border guards who have the status of suspects, 13 were detained and are to be placed in the NAC Detention Center. They are being investigated for passive corruption and risk up to 10 years in prison with the deprivation of the right to hold the office for up to 10 years.

We remind, that every person is presumed to be innocent until the final and irrevocable decision of the court is pronounced.

The Anticorruption Prosecution Office is conducting the criminal investigation.