A judge was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a case instrumented by NAC and AP

On April 30, 2024, the judges of the Bălți Court of Appeal accepted the appeal of the anti-corruption prosecutors against the sentence of the Soroca Court, Central Headquarters of January 26, 2018, by which a judge in the Drochia Court was sentenced to 7 years in prison, with a fine of 160 thousand lei and deprived of the right to hold certain public positions for 10 years, for committing the crime of passive corruption.

The respective criminal case was started in February 2016 by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office based on a complaint, being instrumented by the officers of the North Territorial General Directorate of the NAC.

According to the materials, at the beginning of April 2010, the judge granted the petitioner a private consultation regarding the ways and means of claiming in court the ownership right over the real estate that was the subject of a dispute between her and her concubine.

During this discussion, the judge informed her that he would help her recover her house and would arrange the manner in which the civil file would be assigned to him, with the details to be discussed later. Also then, he demanded and received from the woman 200 euros "for consultation".

Shortly after, during the next meeting, the magistrate informed the petitioner that he would examine the case and adopt a decision in her favour, in exchange for the sum of 6,200 euros.

In April 2014, the woman transferred, from Italy, in the name of the magistrate, the full amount requested, which the latter raised and received from a banking institution.

Thus, by the sentence of January 26, 2018, the judges of the Soroca Court, Central Headquarters found the defendant guilty of committing the crime of passive corruption, setting him a prison sentence for a term of 7 years, with a fine of 160 thousand lei and with the deprivation of the right to hold certain public positions for a period of 10 years.

The prosecutors contested the sentence with an appeal, as a result, by the decision of the Bălți Court of Appeal of April 16, 2019, the prosecutors' appeal was accepted, the sentence of the Soroca Court, Central Headquarters of January 26, 2018 was partially annulled, with the pronouncement of a new decision by which the punishment established by the judge's substantive court remained unchanged, but by the court of appeal under art. 106 of the Criminal Code, the amount of the alleged bribe was confiscated.

Both the defence and the state prosecutors not agreeing with the decision of the appeal court, challenged the decision issued on April 16, 2019 with an appeal in the Supreme Court of Justice.

By the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of January 23, 2020, the ordinary appeals of the defence and state prosecutors were admitted, the decision of the Bălți Court of Appeal of April 16, 2019 was overturned and the criminal case impeaching the judge was referred to the court of appeal for retrial by a another court panel.

By the decision of the criminal panel of the Bălți Court of Appeal of April 30, 2024, the appeals of the lawyer and the defendant were rejected and the state prosecutor's appeal was accepted and the sentence of the Soroca Court, Central Headquarters of January 26, 2018 was partially quashed, with the pronouncement of a new decision by which the convicted judge he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with a fine of 10,000 conventional units - 200,000 lei and deprivation of public office and public dignity for 10 years.

At the same time, the confiscation of the amount of 6400 euros or the equivalent in lei at the time of execution was ordered from the defendant's account with the forced and free transfer to the property of the state, with the maintenance of the seizure applied to the monetary means of 2600 US dollars and 1150 euros, taken from defendant, to ensure special confiscation and the criminal penalty of a fine.

According to the decision, the term of execution of the criminal prison sentence is to be calculated from the date of arrest, after the expiry of the ordinary appeals.

The decision is likely to be enforced from the moment of its adoption, but it can be challenged with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice within 2 months from the communication of the full decision, it can be challenged with an appeal to the Chisinau Court of Appeal within 15 days.

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