An MP and her husband, investigated by the NAC and the AP, were sentenced to 6 years and 5 years in prison, for accepting funding for a political party from an organized criminal group. 30,000 dollars, under the administration of the CARA, were transferre

The Chisinau Court, Buiucani, found a Member of Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and her husband guilty of knowingly accepting funding for a political party from an organized criminal group (art. 42 para. (2), art. 181/2 para. (5) of the Criminal Code). The court ordered a 6-year prison sentence for the defendant and 5 years for her husband, both of whom were deprived of the right to hold public office for a period of 5 years. At the same time, the funds in the amount of 30,000 dollars, recognized as corpus delicti and under the administration of the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) of the National Anti-corruption Centre, were transferred to the state. To ensure the execution of the prison sentence, the preventive measure – preventive arrest – was established for the defendants, and they were announced as wanted.

According to the evidence presented in court, administered at the criminal investigation stage by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (AP) together with the National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC), being a Member of Parliament and a member of the Political Bureau of a political party, acting intentionally and by prior agreement with her husband and other persons not currently established by the criminal investigation body, who have the right to manage its financial sources, ignoring the norms regulating the financing of political parties, she would have knowingly accepted the financing of a party from an organized criminal group.

The defendants allegedly tried to recruit the mayor of Ocnița, promising him one million lei personally and one million lei allocated to the City Hall to be used to develop the infrastructure of Ocnița, to strengthen the Party's electoral position. Although the mayor of Ocnița refused the proposal, the defendants allegedly continued their persuasive actions and on August 2, 2023, the MP's husband allegedly sent the mayor the sum of 30,000 dollars, money withdrawn by her husband from the Party headquarters, being detained and searched on the same day. Although they denied committing the acts throughout the examination of the case, which lasted 1 year and 4 months, the court considered the evidence administered as well-founded and established their guilt in committing the incriminated crimes.

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

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