NAC Weekly Synthesis: Searches and convictions in corruption cases, seizures and freezing orders issued in high-profile cases

The National Anti-corruption Centre has reported several criminal investigation actions in corruption cases, manifested by defrauding legal procedures to obtain official documents, as well as causing millions of damages to some public associations. In the first case, it is about the organization of obtaining driver's licenses by applying a scheme to evade legal procedures against illegal remuneration. At the end of last week, the NAC officers and prosecutors went to several driving schools in Chisinau, Ialoveni and Comrat to document the illegal acts of some intermediaries, suspected of claiming and accepting sums of money for defrauding the process of issuing car licenses.

In another case, the NAC documented the illegal activity of a public association president, suspected of damaging the company with over 16 million lei. According to NAC's findings, the suspect would have appropriated the money received from participants in national and international competitions - sums that were to be collected in the institution's accounting. Prosecutors also obtained a conviction for two investigative officers, documented by officers of the National Anti-corruption Centre in a corruption case. They were sanctioned with a fine of 300 thousand lei and with the deprivation of holding public positions for a period of 2 years.

Also last week, the Bălți Court of Appeal imposed preventive arrest on two customs officers from the Leușeni Customs Post, previously placed under house arrest. The decision was handed down after the prosecutors challenged the conclusion of the first instance regarding their placement under house arrest, demanding an investigation of the officials under preventive arrest. During the reporting period, NAC's Criminal Asset Recovery Agency (CARA) seized approximately 1.5 million lei in corruption cases and issued a freezing order on 4 buildings and two transport units in a case of resonance managed by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office.

Other subdivisions of the Centre reported the release of 136 integrity records, the completion of 13 judicial expertises, 3 operational analyses, and the transmission of 13 anti-corruption expertise reports and 7 opinions to the authors. Also, 8 criminal cases were sent to the prosecutors with proposed solutions.

Currently, 10 people investigated in the NAC cases are held in prisons.