A number of functionaries of the Veterinary Sanitray Laboratory of the Chisinau Food Safety Division and businesspeople have been investigated by the National Anticorruption Center and anticorruption prosecutors within 43 criminal cases started over passive and active corruption. These are suspected of issuing quality and veterinary sanitary certificates to traders who sold meat at stalls at the Central Market for money. Five persons were arrested and are being questioned, IPN reports, quoting a press release of the NAC.
It was determined that employees of the Veterinary Sanitary Laboratory collected “protection taxes” from businesspeople who brought meat for sale at the Central Market so as to issue quality certificates to them without subjecting the goods to a throughout check. The videos and recordings obtained by investigators show the functionaries carried out superficial checks and allowed products of a poor quality to be sold at the market, endangering this way the people’s health.
The bribe offered by the traders for being allowed to sell ranged from 100 lei to several hundred lei per butchered animal (pig or cow), depending on the quality of the meat. The official tax was 10 lei per unit. The investigations conducted during three months showed an estimated 100,000 lei had been collected in bribe in the period, but the real sum can be much higher.
As a result of searches carried out in the morning of April 20, there were arrested three veterinarians of the aforementioned lab and two businesspersons.
Passive and active corruption carry a maximum jail term of 10 years, fine and ban on holding public posts.