The director of the Saint Lazarus Cemetery of Chisinau, who is investigated in a criminal case concerning the illegal sale of burial places at the cemetery, was reinstated in his post. According to representatives of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC), the case that consists of over 140 examples of corruption will be soon sent to court and 28 defendants will appear before judges.
“We learned today about the judges’ decision to reinstate in post one of the main suspects involved in the corruption scheme at the Saint Lazarus Cemetery. As officers of the NAC, we cannot comment on or assess a court decision. But we have what to say over the moral side of this situation. The reinstatement of a person who is investigated in a special case with an enormous social impact, when money was made on account of dead people, has a discouraging effect on us. I’m sure that not only the NAC and the prosecutors are disappointed, but also all those who saw how “business” was done in one of the largest cemeteries in the images disseminated by us,” NAC press officer Angela Starinschi stated for IPN.
By now, the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency sequestrated properties to the value of over 1 billion lei that belongs to persons featured in this case.
It is presumed that the unjust enrichment scheme involved the cemetery head, his deputy, the accountant and other administration members who were charged on 142 counts. The NAC said that over half a million lei was collected by this scheme during three months alone. Besides the state tax of 1,051 lei for a burial place, the group members levied additional payments that could rise to 5,000 or even 7,000 lei. Those who wanted to reserve a place at the cemetery for the family or relatives had to pay twice more than the state tax of 4,612 lei.
