NAC Summary: 3 lawyers investigated in corruption cases, 7 million lei frozen, the launch of the “Registry of Seized and Confiscated Assets”, as well as a series of events held during the Anti-Corruption Week

The National Anti-Corruption Centre has reported, for the past week, several actions in the direction of combating corruption in cases of active corruption, passive corruption and influence peddling in which three lawyers and an accomplice were targeted. In the first case, a lawyer from Chisinau and his accomplice are accused of having demanded and received amounts ranging from 500 euros to 47,000 euros, in exchange for the promise to influence some prosecutors and judges to positively resolve several criminal cases or preventive measures. In another case, two lawyers were accused of demanding and receiving financial means in amounts ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 euros from detained persons and their relatives, in order to influence the decisions of magistrates when examining the applications of some convicts. Subsequently, one lawyer and his accomplice were placed in preventive arrest for 30 days, another lawyer - under house arrest, and the third is being investigated while at liberty. During the reference period, criminal investigation officers proposed 5 cases for prosecution. At the moment, 4 people, arrested in the files opened by the NAC, are placed in penitentiaries.

The Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) of the NAC seized criminal assets worth about 400 thousand lei last week, based on delegations from the General Police Inspectorate (IGP) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These include a residential building and a means of transport and a land plot for construction, seized in a case of organizing illegal migration. Seizures of assets worth about 1.5 million lei were confirmed by court decisions, but 7 million lei were also frozen. At the same time, the CARA of the NAC launched the Information System "Registry of Seized and Confiscated Assets" - a centralized database that will generate relevant statistical data for the institutions involved in the recovery process. Thus, an integrated platform will be created that will directly support law enforcement authorities in their daily work.

The National Anti-corruption Centre organized a series of events dedicated to the International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated every year on December 9. This year, the NAC organized an Anti-Corruption Cafe, a Discussion Club with the theme "From Idea to Action", the final "Pro-Integrity" Quiz, a meeting with the managers of the specialized anti-corruption lines, as well as several trainings in educational institutions. Also, on Friday, study visits were organized to the Centre’s headquarters for several young people from the "Iulia Hasdeu" Theoretical Lyceum, the Moldova State University and the "Ion Creangă" State University.

The Legislation Directorate finalized and submitted to the authors 30 expert reports on draft normative acts last week. The NAC also notifies the completion of 8 operational and 7 strategic analyses, the issuance of 109 integrity records, the reception of 49 calls to the national anti-corruption hotline and the registration of 2,140 materials in the Centre’s Chancellery.