Moldovan police arrests 28 customs employees in corruption case
00:38 | 01.10.2016 Category: Social
Chisinau, 30 September /MOLDPRES/ – Anticorruption prosecutors and officers of the National Anticorruption Centre (CNA) arrested today 28 Customs officers of border crossing points Tudora and Palanca being suspected of passive corruption, announced the General Prosecutor (PG). All were detained for a period of 72 hours and placed under arrest in isolation.
According to the General Prosecutor’s Office press service, these are: the customs officers, heads of laps, heads of post and chief and vice of Bender Customs office. The police conducted several searches in the offices and homes of the defendants to gather evidence of illegal collection of funds by customs inspectors from people carrying agricultural food products to the Ukrainian market. In exchange for not having potential breaches of customs controls, the customs officers would charge illegal fees from travelers.
"It was found that the master and customs inspectors of customs post Tudor, during the performance of duties by corrupt behaviour, under various pretexts, they claimed, extorted, accepted and received from different people financial resources which they accumulated and keep in the service office. Following recent unannounced audit conducted by inspectors of the Department of Homeland Security Customs Service, it was detected shift manager office money in different currencies," reads a press release of the General Prosecutor’s Office.
"At the customs point Palanca, prosecutors depicted similar criminal activities. After hearing witnesses and taking special measures for the prosecution of law enforcement, it was found that the money collected would not be stopped by inspectors, but would have been transmitted to shift managers, who at their turn transmitted to the Heads of customs posts. Subsequently, the collected means reached as Bender customs office chief," says the communiqué.
On this case, law enforcement started a criminal case for passive corruption. The detainees are at risk of up to 10 years in prison.
(Reporter P. Beregoi, editor L. Alcaza)
