Chisinau resident suspected of influence peddling at auctions to sell public land

The Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime (CCCEC) detained a Chisinau resident suspected of influence peddling and involvement in holding auctions to sell the public plots of land exhibited by the Cahul Mayor’s Office, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the CCCEC. A resident of Cahul town informed the CCCEC that a Chisinau inhabitant asks money from potential buyers of the plots belonging to the Cahul Mayor’s Office, saying that he can convince officials of the local public administration to sell the lots at reasonable prices. If the buyer accepts to pay, the man himself takes part in the auction as opponent and raises intentionally the price of the land until his rival gives up. The informer said that he was also the victim of the man, who asked 3,000 euros from him for helping obtain a plot for a commercial construction. The Center’s officers organized the transmission of the 3,000 euros and the suspect was caught in the act at a restaurant in Cahul. The officers found on him and seized the money marked “CCCEC bribe”. He had been under arrest for 72 hours and was then released by the court to be investigated on the outside. If found guilty of influence peddling, the man could be fined 500 to 1,500 conventional units or be imprisoned for up to 5 years. Since the start of this year, the subdivisions of the CCCEC have discovered four cases of influence peddling. The Center’s hotline, 257-257, and the hotline of the Internal Security Division, 257-333, continue to work and the people can use them to report any violations of the legislation.