The Presidents of the Criuleni and Ialoveni Territorial Offices of a former political party, investigated by the NAC, APO and SIS, were sentenced to 4 years of suspended imprisonment

The Chisinau Court, Buiucani seat, pronounced the sentence of conviction regarding the presidents of the Criuleni and Ialoveni Territorial Offices of a former political party, for committing the crime of complicity in knowingly accepting the financing of the political party by an organized criminal group.

The court imposed a prison sentence on both of them for a term of 4 years, with the deprivation of the right to occupy leadership positions in political parties or their organizations and to exercise financial administration/management or logistical organization activities within the parties, for a period of 5 years. The sentence was conditionally suspended for a probationary period of 3 years.

The confiscation of approximately 2.9 million lei from the president of the Criuleni territorial organization of the former political party was also ordered, and approximately 3.5 million lei from the president of the Ialoveni territorial organization, with a mobile phone also being confiscated for the benefit of the state as evidence. The court maintained the seizure applied to the defendants' assets during the criminal investigation phase.

Until the date of the finalization of the sentence, the preventive measure of not leaving the country was applied to them.

According to the evidence administered by the National Anti-corruption Centre, in collaboration with the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office and the Intelligence and Security Service, the defendants, as presidents of the Criuleni and Ialoveni Territorial Offices of the former political party, would have knowingly accepted, between July and October 2022, the financing of the political party from an organized criminal group, in the total amount of approximately 6.4 million lei. These funds were allegedly used to pay for the protests organized by the party and to pay unaccounted salaries (in envelopes) to members of the territorial offices.

The defendants denied the charges throughout the trial.

The sentence is to be appealed to the Central Court of Appeal on the grounds of its leniency, as the state prosecutor requested a 5-year prison sentence, with the sentence to be served in a semi-closed prison.

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