A former mayor and the administrator of a private company, investigated by the NAC and the AP, sentenced to 7 and 8 years in prison, respectively. The seizure of 940 000 lei, applied by the CARA – upheld by the court

The Hincesti Court, Leova headquarters, pronounced the sentence of conviction regarding a former mayor of the village of Filipeni, Leova district, being incriminated with the crimes of forgery of public documents, abuse of office and fraud and regarding the administrator of a company, accused of fraud.

The court found the former mayor guilty on all counts, sentencing him by partial accumulation of the sentences to 7 years in prison, with the deprivation of the right to hold public offices for a term of 10 years and administrative positions of commercial companies for a term of 3 years. At the same time, the administrator of a company was sentenced to 8 years in prison and deprived of the right to hold positions in the administration of commercial companies for a period of 3 years. Preventive arrest was applied to both of them.

Also, the civil action filed by Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA) was admitted and the collection of the material damage caused by the crime in the amount of 815,125 lei from the defendants' account to the injured party was ordered. Also, the seizure in the amount of over 940 000 lei, applied to the assets of the former mayor by the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) of the NAC, was maintained.

According to the evidence administered by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office, jointly with the National Anti-corruption Centre, the mayor of Filipeni village, Leova district, acting jointly with the founder and administrator of a company, as well as other individuals, during the period 2017-2019, with the aim of registering false data in official documents, in the form of extracts from the Register of Lease Contacts kept by the Filipeni village, allegedly registered documents with false content, authenticated by the City Hall stamp, as if the commercial company in question owned several plots of land under lease.

Subsequently, these false extracts were presented to the Agency for Interventions and Payments in Agriculture to obtain subsidies for the procurement of agricultural machinery and equipment, thus causing considerable material damage in the amount of 814,125 lei.

The defendants denied committing the acts throughout the trial, but the court, analysing the evidence presented, established their guilt.

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