Two lawyers are investigated by the National Anti-corruption Centre and prosecutors in a criminal case initiated on active, passive corruption and influence peddling

Officers of the National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC), under the leadership of the Balti Municipal Prosecutor's Office, conducted 30 searches in four criminal cases connected in a single procedure, in which two lawyers are targeted. They are suspected of having demanded and received financial means from persons in detention and their relatives in amounts ranging between 1,000 and 5,000 euros, in order to influence the decisions of magistrates when examining the applications of some convicts.

The criminal investigation in this case was initiated by the National Anti-corruption Centre based on a reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of crimes of passive, active corruption and influence peddling. According to the materials administered, between June and November 2024, the suspects allegedly claimed that they had influence over some magistrates and that, in exchange for illicit remuneration, they could induce them to issue favourable decisions regarding some convicts, such as conditional release from detention before the term or replacing the unserved part of the sentence with a milder sanction.

Currently, the National Anti-corruption Centre is conducting searches, under the procedural leadership of the Prosecutor's Office of the municipality of Balti, to establish and document all the persons who benefited/involved in the aforementioned illegal actions and to hold them criminally liable. At the moment, one of the lawyers is detained for 72 hours, while the second is being investigated at liberty.

We remind that any person shall be presumed innocent until a final and irrevocable court decision is issued, and the investigations in this case continue.