The General Inspectorate of Police has identified a boy as the perpetrator of a series of bomb threats received by a Chisinau mall in recent months.

“The activity of the minor was directed from abroad”, said the Inspectorate. The platform used by the suspect to send his threats is registered in an unnamed European country.

Nine bomb hoaxes have been reported from the beginning of the year, causing “significant damages to the national budget”.

Making bomb threats is punishable by fines ranging from 27,500 to 42,500 lei, up to 240 hours of community service, or up to 24 months in jail. When minors are involved, the parents may be hold answerable instead.