Police unveils illegal migration schemes, investigates university clerks for taking bribes

The police investigates the manager of a tourism firm “Antaris” for organizing illegal migration. On June 17, the border guards from the Leuseni crossing point at the frontier with Romania halted two minibuses carrying 34 Moldovan tourists to Romania. At a news conference at the Internal Affairs Ministry, on June 23, a top police officer, Iurie Ursan, said those had actually been migrants, which were later to reach EU countries, Info-Prim Neo reports. The police officer says the agency's manager is penally searched for setting up a scheme organizing illegal migration. She had recruiters, who offered people to organize their trips to countries from the European Union, against 3,500 – 4,000 euros per person. Another case reported by Iurie Ursan refers to the organization of a similar scheme by the deputy manager of a martial arts club. The manque trainer offered member cards to people willing to illegally go abroad, as his accomplices issued them health certificates and trained them how to answer the questions of consulate clerks, when they were going to apply for visas. Both cases will go to courts shortly. The police officer says improvements are recorded this year in terms of trafficking in human beings: 117 cases were registered, with 33 fewer than in 2008. 13 children were trafficked. At the same time, the cases of procurement (85) and of organizing illegal migration (52) stay at the last year level. Ursan says the police started 13 inquests this year against tour operators, employment agencies and 'work and travel' agencies, under suspicion of illegally organizing trips abroad. Adrian Burduja, an officer from the Ministry's Cyber Crimes Division, reported about the inquest against a professor from the European Studies University from Moldova, for allegedly extorting from 2 to 4 thousand lei from graduating students. Instead he assured them to successfully take the exit exams. The university clerk was caught in the act as he was receiving 700 lei from a student, who cared to inform the police in advance. The police searches a professor from the Medical University, who has recently been caught red-handed as she was receiving money from a student. The police suppose her scheme has been working for long. The students were offered to answer the topics they knew, and then the professor used to write the number of the test in the exam documents. The service cost 100-150 euros. As the police searched her office, they found over 2,700 euros in envelopes with the students' names on them.