Three customs officers and two employees of a company will be tried for smuggling cosmetic products in large quantities. They face up to 10 years in jail, IPN has learned from the Prosecutor General’s Office.
According to prosecutors, the administrator and forwarding agent of the firm in 2010 smuggled into Moldova goods to the value of over 5.5 million lei. The goods were taken to a free economic zone, whose status does not allow selling the merchandise on the country’s territory afterward. However, the company’s employees sold the consumer goods and then influenced officers of the Giurgiulesti – Cahul customs post to falsify clearance documents as if the goods were re-delivered and taken out of Moldova.
Based on the same scheme, in 2011 the administrator and the forwarding agent smuggled merchandise of about 2.2 million lei. The goods, which could only transit the country in accordance with the customs documents, were sold on Moldova’s territory. Afterward, in order to hide the smuggling, the customs officer of the Briceni – Rososeni customs post wrote false data in the documents, showing that the merchandise was taken out of the country.
The accused persons were banned from leavening the country. At prosecutors’ request, the customs officers were suspended from posts until the judgment is passed. The case was recently sent to court.
