The head of the North Customs Bureau was arrested following searches at his home and office on Wednesday, IPN reports.
The National Anticorruption Center said in a statement the official had tried to create obstacles for a company specializing in timber imports from Ukraine. In particular, the company was subjected to stricter verification and undue fees, despite its status of a major taxpayer enjoying facilitated treatment at the customs.
Because of such “constant harassment”, the importer had to return the timber back to Ukraine, which caused the company to lose about 200,000 lei and the state to miss out on customs duties.
The official has been arrested for 72 hours. He faces a penalty ranging from a fine of 2,000 conventional units to up to 6 years in prison, either way with a ban from occupying public offices for a period of up to 10 years.
NAC said the suspect is already under investigation for another alleged case of official misconduct, but despite prosecutors asking for his suspension, the Customs Service has allowed him to further occupy his post.
