The sequester amounting to 301.6 million lei was applied as part of a criminal investigation into the crime of large-scale money laundering which allegedly occurred during the privatization of "Air Moldova" SOE.
In a National Anti-corruption Center press release, it is stated that a series of fictitious transactions led to the privatization of the airline. In order to avoid the risks of company asset alienation, the statutory capital of the company, worth 301.6 million lei, was sequestered.
Air Moldova was sold in October last year to the Civil Aviation Group SRL, the company that manages the Romanian airline Blue Air. At that time, the Public Property Agency announced that 50 million lei were transferred to the state budget, while the rest of the amount was in fact the debt of the Air Moldova company, which the investor was obliged to pay.
The parliamentary inquiry commission for the analysis of the organization and conduct of the privatization and concession processes of public property found that, over the course of 2013-2019, the purpose of the privatization of the Air Moldova company was not achieved and there is reasonable suspicion that state property was dilapidated, then privatized with serious procedural violations.
