A man sentenced to 6.5 years in prison for money laundering and confiscation of 1.3 million lei, in a case investigated by the National Anti-corruption Centre

The Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters, pronounced the sentence of conviction of two persons for committing the crime of money laundering in particularly large proportions. The criminal investigation was carried out by the criminal investigation body of the National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC), under the leadership of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office (AP).

The evidence administered demonstrated that an administrator and founder of a company, acting in complicity with a group of persons, fraudulently obtained from "Banca de Economii" SA a loan in the amount of 42,500,000 lei, which, both during its administration and upon the expiration of the repayment term, was not repaid, thus causing the financial institution a particularly large amount of damage.

Subsequently, the persons concerned, acting in complicity and with the aim of stealing another person's assets through deception, acquired during December 2011, from "Banca de Economii" SA, funds in the amount of 4,400,000 lei, which, in order to conceal and disguise its illicit origin, were transferred to several companies.

Only one of the six defendants pleaded guilty, and the criminal investigation lasted approximately two months, and the trial lasted one year.

Thus, by the sentence of November 29, 2024, the court found one defendant guilty of committing the crime of money laundering, establishing his punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of 6 years and 6 months. The defendant was taken into custody from the court hearing, and the preventive measure of preventive arrest was applied to him, in order to ensure the execution of the sentence, until the sentence becomes final.

At the same time, the court ordered the confiscation of 1,300,000 lei from the defendant and other persons participating in the money laundering offense, in respect of whom the criminal cases are examined in separate proceedings, which constitute assets converted entirely from the assets resulting from the commission of the main offense.

The second defendant was acquitted of the charges under art. 243, para. (3), letter b) of the Criminal Code, on the grounds that the act was not committed by the defendant.

The sentence can be appealed 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.