NAC-AP-NII operation// A scheme for the illegal acquisition of land belonging to Chisinau Municipality was uncovered. Seven people are allegedly involved

Seven people on the radar of the NAC officers and anti-corruption prosecutors after allegedly setting up a scheme to illegally obtain land belonging to Chisinau City Hall, causing considerable damage to the municipality. 

According to the materials of the case, the scheme worked in the following way: an employee of the Public Services Agency identified people with property rights on some lands bordering lots belonging to the City Hall, after which, together with them, they installed concrete blocks at the boundaries of the lands. Later, a barn or other temporary construction was built, already located on the lot of the City Hall, which they legalized, registering it in the Real Estate Register. At the current stage, five cases of abusive taking over of Chisinau Municipality's properties have been identified. 

This morning, the NAC officers and anti-corruption prosecutors conducted 9 searches of the group's members, suspected of organizing the scheme to illegally take over the municipality's lands. As a result of the criminal investigation, mobile phones, information carriers and draft documents were seized, and one person was detained for 72 hours. He is being investigated for abuse of power or office, in the interest of an organized criminal group. The other persons concerned are being investigated, at this stage, at large, after which the prosecutors will establish their procedural status, depending on the accumulated evidence. 

The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office is conducting the criminal investigation, with operative support being provided by the National Investigation Inspectorate. 

We remind, that every person who has been charged shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.