Moldovan ambassador to Lisbon suspected of involvement in illegal migration schemes

Moldova's acting, recently recalled, ambassador to Portugal Mihail Carmerzan, together with three other former members of the Moldovan diplomatic mission, is suspected of having links to a criminal organization dealing in illegal immigration, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the on-line version of the Portuguese daily Diario de Noticias. Portugal's Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) started criminal proceedings against 28 persons in connection with the case, but the four diplomats escaped formal charges owing to their diplomatic immunity. The four are suspected of bribe-taking, embezzlement, abuse of authority, and forging of documents, writes the paper. Besides Mihail Camerzan, the paper mentions the names of consul E. Munteanu, prime-secretary N. Oprea , and I. Pavalencu, whose position wasn't revealed. Investigations found that the criminal organization was headed by another Moldovan citizen, a woman called Dorina Tintiuc, who had links to the embassy and was even believed to have access to the computers of the Moldovan mission. After the ambassador's recall, the four diplomats are supposed to return home.