The North Service of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office sent to court two more criminal cases against the chief accountant and the head of the assets depository of the local branch of Banca de Economii (BEM) in Rascani district. The prosecutors charged them with appropriation of 2.3 million lei, IPN reports, quoting the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The lawsuit was filed following a complaint submitted by the administration of BEM, which detected the absence of cash as a result of an internal audit. It was established that 7.7 million lei, over US$50,000 and more than €33,000 had been stolen from the bank in 2007-2014. Afterward, when coming into possession of the money and intending to launder it by conversion and transfer, the culprits used the money to purchase and repair movable assets belonging to them and their close relatives.

Thus, the offenders face 5 to 10 years in jail. According to the prosecutors, the culprits returned a part of the stolen money. However, a part of their property was sequestrated so as to recover the entire damaged caused by them.

The director of the BEM branch is also being investigated. At the beginning of this year, the head of the assets depository and another employee of the branch were sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in jail each for appropriation and were obliged to restore the caused damage.