A former president and a former vice-president of the Criuleni District Council, investigated by the NAC and the APO, have been sentenced to 9 and 8 years in prison

The Chișinău Court (Buiucani seat) handed down the conviction against a former president and a former vice-president of the Criuleni District Council, finding them guilty of passive corruption.

The court sentenced the former president of the Criuleni District Council to 9 years in prison, a fine of 450,000 lei, and a ban on holding public office for 11 years.

The former vice-president of the Criuleni District Council was sentenced to 8 years in prison, a fine of 400,000 lei, and a ban on holding public office for 10 years.

The court ordered the defendants to jointly pay the sum of 798,300 lei, representing illicit proceeds obtained from the crime. Additionally, the court ordered the confiscation of 336,328 lei from the former president of the Criuleni District Council for the benefit of the state.

According to evidence gathered by the National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC) together with the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (APO), in 2014, the president of the Criuleni District Council allegedly extorted approximately 50,000 euros from the manager of two projects funded by European funds, for which the Criuleni District Council was the beneficiary. In exchange for the money, he allegedly promised that, by virtue of his position, he would ensure the transfer of approximately 2.67 million lei by the Criuleni District Council into the project accounts—representing the local public authority's 10% contribution to the project funding.

During that period, the President of the Criuleni District Council, together with the Vice-President of the Criuleni District Council, allegedly received—in successive installments and through intermediaries—funds equivalent to over 1.1 million lei, paid in a mix of lei, euros, and dollars.

The verdict is not final and may be appealed to the Center Court of Appeal within 15 days.

Note: A person accused of committing a crime shall be presumed innocent until a final conviction is handed down by a court.