Oleg Sternioală, judge of the Supreme Court of Justice, was detained for 72 hours, being investigated in a criminal case initiated on charges of large scale money laundering. Today, searches have been carried out at the magistrate's home and office, after the CSM approved the request of the prosecutor general, IPN reports.

According to the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, as basis for initiating the criminal prosecution served the journalistic investigations regarding the magistrate possessions, the materials of the operational analysis and the prosecutor’s ex-officio notification.

The checks conducted prior to the investigation show that the magistrate and his family have accumulated revenues of about seven million lei during a reference period. During the same period, they bought luxury goods worth about 13.8 million lei.

The criminal prosecution body suspects that the difference of about 6.7 million between the judge's income and expenses represents illicit assets, which have been concealed, and their nature and origin is disguised by transferring property rights to third parties, which has to be proven within the framework of the criminal prosecution.