Detained Moldovan civil servants involved in schemes of dispossessing lands of Chisinau-based college

Chisinau, 22 November /MOLDPRES/ - The civil servants detained by anti-corruption officers and prosecutors today were involved in schemes of dispossessing lands belonging to the Chisinau-based National College of Vine Growing and Wine Making. The head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Viorel Morari, made statements to this effect at a news briefing today.    

According to Morari, in last March, a criminal file was opened for swindles, falsification of evidence within a civil action, as well as passive corruption of public persons, who aimed at dispossessing lands of the aforementioned college. “During the criminal prosecution, charges were brought against five persons, including public persons of the above-mentioned college. Following the completion of the criminal prosecution, decision-makers found out the existence of another group, which carried out its work by actions of dispossessing assets of this college; it is about 30 ha of lands on the area of the Stauceni village, which, through suspects, got to be managed by affiliated people,” Morari said.      

Also, prosecutors found out actions of active corruption undertaken by members of this group and namely getting money to influence public persons in taking certain decisions. “More exactly, money was received to influence councilors of the local council to adopt a friendly decision concerning the change of the lands’ purpose. At the same time, a person who carried out entrepreneurial activity bribed a civil servant to ensure the winning of the office of director of the college; after getting the position, the new director undertook actions of favouring the members who helped him get the office,” Viorel Morari noted.  

Law-enforcers said that a deed of active corruption regarding the getting of financing from the Agency of Interventions and Payments from the Agriculture and Food Industry Ministry (MAIA) was being also investigated. The size of the financial support is estimated at 4.5 million lei; the group’s members were to pay a sum of 30,000 euros for this action.

The head of the National Anticorruption Centre’s (CNA) criminal prosecution department, Bogdan Zumbreanu, said that 24 searches had been carried out today, in the wake of which 12 persons were detained, among whom a former secretary of the Supreme Security Council, an employee of a Scientific and Practical Institute, an expert assessor of real estate, a lawyer – former employee of the Interior Ministry, a head of department at MAIA and a former agriculture and food industry deputy minister. “The other persons are entrepreneurs, in whose interest the offence was committed, by getting on lease, clearing and changing the purpose, so that subsequently these small plots of land be sold at a much higher price. Now, the persons are detained for a period of 72 hours. Subsequently, in a three-day term, prosecutors are to decide whether they will demand applying preventive measure of arrest against them,” Zumbreanu said.            

Another two persons have been earlier detained on this case in another criminal file, managed by CNA’s Nord (North) territorial department. At the same time, the members of the local council of the Stauceni village, Chisinau municipality, are to be heard in this case too.     

The detained persons are prosecuted for deeds of swindle, taking and giving bribe, influence peddling and forgery of public acts.

(Reporter A. Plitoc, editor M. Jantovan)