NAC Synthesis: Over 80 searches in systemic corruption cases at a sanatorium in Vadul lui Vodă, Vama Leușeni and a police inspectorate. NAC officers seized over 1.5 million lei

The National Anti-corruption Centre (NAC) has announced that, in the previous week, it carried out several operations to combat systemic corruption with major impact. Thus, at the Rehabilitation Center in Vadul lui Vodă, three people, including the institution's management, were detained and subsequently placed in preventive arrest for 20 days for acts of passive corruption, influence peddling and embezzlement in public procurement. Over 1.5 million lei were seized as a result of criminal investigation actions, the origin of which is yet to be established. At Leușeni customs, an employee was detained and placed under house arrest for 30 days, and four other customs officers are suspected of systematically demanding and receiving illicit payments from carriers for facilitating customs procedures. At Police Inspectorate Drochia, two officials were detained, and nine public agents are being investigated for receiving money from drivers in exchange for ignoring contraventions.

Also, during this period, the courts handed down several convictions in cases investigated by the NAC and anti-corruption prosecutors. A former mayor and a councilor from Băcioi commune each received 8 years in prison for passive corruption, being ordered to repay over 700,000 lei to the state. In other cases, two lawyers were convicted of influence peddling, with fines and confiscations totaling over 250,000 lei. We note that, at the moment, 9 persons, targeted in the Centre’s files, are arrested and detained in penitentiary institutions. During the reporting period, the criminal investigation officers of the NAC submitted 14 criminal cases to the prosecutors for resolution, and another 23 files were initiated.

The Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA) of the NAC announced the seizure of illicit assets worth approximately 2.8 million lei. These were seized based on the delegations of the General Directorate for Criminal Investigation of the NAC, the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases and the General Inspectorate of Border Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. These include means of transportation, 4 residential premises, 3 construction plots and 2 agricultural plots. At the same time, the CARA issued a freezing order on 3 bank accounts worth about 275 000 lei, and seizures previously applied on assets worth about 2.7 million lei were confirmed by court decisions.

In the field of corruption prevention, the Legislation Directorate finalized and submitted to the authors 10 expert reports on draft normative acts last week. At the same time, 12 anti-corruption trainings were organized for about 1500 people, 3 operational analyses were conducted and 119 integrity records were released. The National Anti-corruption Hotline received 46 calls, and 1569 materials were registered in the NAC Chancellery.