An investigation officer of the Briceni Police Inspectorate was sentenced to five years in jail and fined 30,000 lei for passive corruption. He was also banned from holding public posts for a period of three years. The sentence was pronounced in the absence of the convict, who is now wanted, IPN reports.

According to the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office, last December the police officer asked for and received €2,500 from a person investigated in a criminal case for not confiscating his car as corpus delicti.

The policeman wasn’t suspended during the investigation. Prosecutors say such cases are frequent. The General Police Inspectorate invokes the presumption of innocence and wants to thus avoid being sued if the suspended police officer if found not guilty. Such a policy favors the accused policeman during the investigation.

The sentence is not yet definitive. The policeman from Briceni, who tendered his resignation meanwhile, can appeal it to a higher court.