Former MP Iurie Bolboceanu faces up to 20 years in jail for treason and espionage against the Republic of Moldova, prosecutor Anatolie Pitel said in a press briefing on March 20, IPN reports.

Anatolie Pitel stated that during almost a year and a half, Iurie Bolboceanu had provided information of major interest about the Republic of Moldova to a foreign espionage service. The collected evidence shows Iurie Bolboceanu committed treason. “Searches were carried out at the home of the ex-MP. There were confiscated a number of documents, a mobile phone intended exclusively for communication between the dignitary and the agent under cover and money to the value of US$23,000,” said the prosecutor.

Prosecutor Vitalie Busuioc said the investigation was opened last October. There were traced the meetings of Iurie Bolboceanu and the officer under cover, who works for a foreign espionage service. The ex-MP was remunerated for the information provided at each of the meetings.

According to Alexandru Balan, vice director of the Security and Intelligence Service, the former MP collected espionage information against the Republic of Moldova from persons working in different fields. “Meetings were held once a month. The two set the next meeting when they met. Information was transmitted on paper, through USB drive and through a secret laptop,” he said.

Iurie Bolboceanu was arrested on March 17 for 72 hours. On March 19, the ex-MP was indicted and the Centru Court is to decide whether to issue a warrant for his arrest for 30 days or not.