No person found guilty of taking bribe is now serving time in prison, the director of the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime Viorel Chetraru said in a news conference, Info-Prim Neo reports. Viorel Chetraru stated that most of the persons convicted of bribery were put on probation, were fined or given other punishments. These punishments are given legally and this is a serious problem that affects the fight against corruption. Bogdan Zumbreanu, the head of the Center’s Criminal Investigation Division, said the main cause of such a state of affairs is the too mild sentences. “The law is not very strict and allows the persons found guilty of taking bribe to escape imprisonment for committing less serious offenses, when these persons cooperate with the prosecution body and admit their guilt,” he stated, adding the persons are often fined a sum that is lower than the taken bribe. According to Bogdan Zumbreanu, another factor is the keeping of persons investigated as suspects in bribery-related cases in posts. “The persons cooperate with the Center, experience stress when they transmit the money under the control of the Center’s employees and in 2-3 weeks see the same functionaries at the same workplace,” he said. Another problem is the finality of the cases in which the state is caused damage as a result of the adoption of collective decisions. Such cases attract increased attention from society. The most serious problem is that when an illegal collective decision is taken, the law does not allow holding accountable only one person. Over the first four months of this year, the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime had dealt with 531 offenses.