Forty three people, of whom 19 detainees, to be prosecuted in file on swindle worth about 2 million lei

Chisinau, 24 November /MOLDPRES/ - The 23 November raids from penitentiaries resulted in the detention of 24 people from outside penitentiaries and 19 detainees from over five penitentiaries are to be sent, in stages, to hearings in a file on swindle of about 2 million lei, dealing with the ‘’sale of vehicles in Europe.’’    

According to the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Causes (PCCOCS), law-enforcers on 23 November carried out 60 searches at penitentiaries and at homes of the members of a crime ring specialized in swindles with cars. The procedural and criminal actions were carried out in 14 districts and the Chisinau municipality.  

The goal of the searches regarded the consolidation of the evidence of law—enforcers concerning the criminal activity of a group of detainees from different penitentiaries, which created a scheme of ‘’sale of vehicles in Europe,’’ which worked on the period 2020-2021. Thus, following the raids, the law-enforcers raised mobile phones, electronic devices for stocking information, drugs and assets relevant for this cause, which include 25 criminal files connected.  

According to the file’s materials, the suspects were creating accounts on internet pages of advertising of sales announcements; subsequently, they were taking over pictures with vehicles for sale in European states and were proposing them for sale as intermediaries. In the next phase, they were asking clients sums of money in advance, between 1,500 and 3,000 euros; sometimes, they were claiming such sums repeatedly, so that some of the victims gave them up to 9,000 euros. The final phase of the scheme consisted in deleting the account from the page of advertising announcements and giving up the phone numbers used. To carry out the scheme, people outside penitentiaries were persuaded to provide them ‘’assistance’’ as messengers of money sums.   

The crime ring’s members were shadowed during one year and PCCOCS prosecutors are now to decide on the need to submit approaches on the applying of the preventing arrest against people at large, as well as on presenting the accusation against the detainees.