The NAC Synthesis: Arrests in corruption cases, convictions and seizures of assets worth over 6 million lei. Over 700 people trained in integrity

The National Anti-corruption Centre has announced several arrests in corruption cases registered last week. The cases involve employees of the Environmental Inspectorate, the Customs Service, brokerage companies, as well as acts of dispossession of assets that generated damages worth millions of lei. During the reporting period, the NAC officers and prosecutors conducted searches in a criminal case of systemic corruption targeting customs employees, brokers and representatives of a business entity. They are suspected of having set up a corruption scheme through which they allegedly demanded undue money to influence some Customs Service officials, to facilitate the import of certain products. Currently, two people are in pretrial detention. Another case, documented in flagrante delicto, concerns an environmental inspector suspected of having demanded a bribe of 10 000 lei to exonerate a person from criminal liability, invoking alleged violations and promising to avoid recovering any possible damage caused to the environment. The act was allegedly related to the execution of works on a land belonging to the whistle-blower. The accused was placed under house arrest.

At the same time, the NAC and anti-corruption prosecutors carried out criminal investigation in a case involving the illegal dispossession of assets worth approximately 12 million lei belonging to a company. According to the investigation, after the non-payment of loans contracted from a commercial bank, the forcible transfer of the pledged assets into the possession of the financial institution for their capitalization was ordered. However, the administrator of the debtor company allegedly continued to use the respective assets for several years. In this case, two people were detained for 72 hours. During the same period, the court ruled on a case of illegal financing of political parties, investigated by the NAC and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. By the sentence pronounced, the former vice-president of the Rîșcani territorial office of a former political party was sentenced to four years in prison.

The Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) under the NAC reported the application of seizures on illicit assets worth over 6 million lei. Also, the courts confirmed seizures worth 1.7 million lei, assets worth 3.6 million lei were taken under administration, and over 4.4 million lei were deposited in the treasury accounts of the NAC.

In the corruption prevention segment, the Centre received 28 draft normative acts for anti-corruption expertise. 21 reports and 3 opinions were developed and submitted to the authors, and another 21 projects are under review. The analytical department completed two operational analyses and continues its work on three strategic analyses. In the field of anti-corruption education, 17 trainings were organized for 760 public agents, and another 14 information sessions are planned this week. At the same time, 47 telephone calls were received at the National Anti-corruption Line. During the same period, 179 integrity records were issued, and 1910 materials were registered in the Centre’s office.