Driver probed for attempting to sell asphalt destined for repairing Chisinau roads denies involvement of his bosses

The driver employed SA Edilitate, who is now probed for attempting to sell asphalt destined for repairing roads in Chisinau, denies he would have done so instructed by his bosses. Anyway, Chisinau's general mayor Dorin Chirtoaca asks for finding out whether municipal functionaries would have been involved in the affair and warns they may get severe sanctions, Info-Prim Neo reports. The employee of the municipal enterprise Edilitate was invited Monday to the City Hall's sitting. Asked by the mayor under whose instructions he tried to sell a truck of asphalt, the driver assumed all the guilt, denies the involvement of any public servantsHe said he was to carry the asphalt to Schinoasa str. Asked by a citizen he accepted to sell him some 100 kg of asphalt, but was caught red-handed. The man recognizes he did have the necessary papers issued by the asphalt plant, but says he did not take any money from the citizen. Edilitate's manager, Anatolie Gorbunov, has assured this was the first case during those 19 years since he is managing the enterprise. “We wait for the results of the police's inquest, and then all the guilty persons will be punished,” Gorbunov has said. The chief of the Transportation and Communication Ways Direction, Veaceslav Tarna, has said a similar case took place 7 years ago, when a worker was prevented to steal building materials from a site at Ciuflea str. According to Tarna, the probed truck driver is one of the best specialists, with over 30 years of experience and readying for retiring. He get a salary of some 3,000 lei. Dorin Chirtoaca has doubted the public servants' sincerity, remarking stealing is a usual practice in state-run companies, inherited from the Soviet period. The mayor has warned he will be unsparing with public servants, if such cases are unveiled in the future. The driver, suspected of “theft from other's property” was caught red-handed on May 4. A note by the Ministry of Domestic reads: “Instead of carrying the asphalt to the destination, the man, instructed by his employers, unloaded it on Buiucani str. in Dumbrava village, selling it to an outside buyer.” According to the police, the truck carried over 7 tonnes of asphalt, destined for the road on Schinoasa Deal str. in Codru town, Chisinau municipality. After verifications, the police discovered that there were documents according to which the asphalt have already been reported as brought to the destination. The asphalt was being sold against 3,000 lei, while it costs 5,800 lei. According to the chief of the municipal police, the dossier will be submitted to the court within a week. If proved guilty, the driver may pay a fine of up to 10,000 lei or be jailed up to 7 years. The same risk is run by his employers, if found guilty of instructing him to do so.