An anti-corruption prosecutor from the Southern Office, currently suspended from duty, has been sentenced in absentia to five years in prison. He also served for a month as the interim head of the Cahul District Prosecutor’s Office. The court found him guilty of knowingly bringing an innocent person to criminal liability and interfering with the administration of justice, reports IPN.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office specifies that, in December 2015, the defendant asked the head of the Economic Fraud Investigation Service within the Cantemir Police Inspectorate to cease a contraventional process at a PECO station in the city, targeting the unauthorized use of electronic equipment at the fuel distribution panel columns.
After the police officer refused, the prosecutor opened a criminal case against him, alleging an abuse of power. The case was brought before the court, but the individual was acquitted by all national courts. The judges determined that the police officer had acted within his powers.
The prosecutor would have tried to prevent the objective examination of a criminal case on the docket of the Cahul Court, attempting to remove the lawyer chosen by the defendant. He would have planned to tarnish the lawyer’s image, including by initiating a criminal case against him. Moreover, the prosecutor would have suggested to the defendant to offer the lawyer a sum of money, promising, in return, that he would intervene to protect him from criminal liability in that case.
In another episode, acting as the interim chief prosecutor of the Cahul Prosecutor’s Office, the accused allegedly invited the interim deputy chief of the Gotesti Border Police Sector and, under the pretext of a criminal case managed by the prosecutor’s office involving decision-makers from the same direction, handed him an audio recording device. This was supposed to record discussions with a police collaborator, provoking him to commit illegal activities. In return, the prosecutor allegedly promised that he would intervene with the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to promote him in position.
The Cahul Court, Central Headquarters, has imposed, through partial cumulation of penalties, 5 years of imprisonment and the prohibition of holding public offices or dignities for the same period. The sentence was pronounced in the absence of the defendant, who remains under the preventive measure of arrest established by the conclusion of June 12, 2023, until it becomes final.
The court’s decision can be appealed to the South Court of Appeal.
