A citizen of Lebanon was sentenced to nine years in prison for deceiving his compatriot, to whom he was going to sell 4,000 cows from Moldova. According to the same sentence, the 50-year-old defendant is to pay 4.6 million lei to the victim, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and Special Cases, the deceived buyer was to receive in Libya the 4,000 head of cattle transported by ship. He decided to buy them after he sold a plot of land at home in 2013 and intended to invest the money in a business. The man came to Moldova to conclude the transaction with his compatriot, who lived in Chisinau.

The latter was helped by four other people, who were previously convicted by the Court of Chisinau City.

The perpetrators convinced the buyer to transfer a first part of the agreed amount – US$16,000. Under the same contract, the buyer was to prove that he deposited the second part of the amount in a bank account in Moldova.

After the agreement was reached, the man returned to Libya to wait for the cattle. Meanwhile, the perpetrators in Chisinau managed to withdraw the money from his bank account - over US$350,000 or the equivalent of over 4.6 million lei - using an illegally obtained power of attorney.

The deceived buyer denounced the perpetrators to the authorities. The case was sent to court in 2016.