Moldovan finance minister dismisses heads of fiscal, customs bodies

Chisinau, 29 January /MOLDPRES/- The head of the State Main Fiscal Inspectorate, Ion Prisacaru, and the director-general of the Customs Service, Tudor Balitchi, have been dismissed under an order by Finance Minister Octavian Armasu.

Armasu informed that the order on the matter had been signed on 28 January.

“At the same time, as for the statements by Prime Minister Pavel Filip on excessive controls made on economic agents, which are intimidated and from which bribes are demanded, referring to involvement of more state institutions with control duties, in particular, the State Principal Fiscal Inspectorate and Customs Service, the Finance Ministry informs that an internal investigation on the aforementioned institutions will be initiated on the next period”, the communiqué reads.

The dismissal comes about after, two days ago, Filip requested setting a three-month moratorium on controls made by the fiscal body and economic police, and asked to suspend from office the heads of the fiscal and customs services, as well as the economic police.

“Controls are carried out with great abuses, and sometimes the economic agent is subject to three-four controls during one week. A quite alarming picture appears. The suspicion hanging over the fiscal service, Economic Police, Customs Service and over the heads of these institutions must be cleared up, and abuses stopped. We have information that huge bribes are paid,” he said at a cabinet meeting.

On 28 January, the deputy head of the General Police Inspectorate, Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, on the basis of an internal investigation ordered by Interior Minister Alexandru Jizdan, signed an order suspending from office the head of the National Investigation Inspectorate’s economic fraud department during investigations instructed by Pavel Filip at the cabinet meeting.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor M. Jantovan)