Zinaida Greceanai: To improve fighting corruption, top dignitaries shall be uncovered

Moldovan Premier Zinaida Greceanai stated on Tuesday, December 9, at the opening the Anti-Corruption National Conference, that, in order to improve fighting corruption, “we must intensify the actions of uncovering the former and present top dignitaries, especially those suspected by society,” Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the premier, the existent legislative framework, to a certain extent, enables a successful accomplishment of fighting corruption, and the law enforcers must focus on efficient applying the penal norms and ensuring punishment of the persons involved in corruption acts. Greceanai also specified the inefficiency of the existing mechanisms of declaring incomes and properties by the civil servants. “Declaring incomes is not based on a mechanism of monitoring expenditures, and this makes impossible to identify the civil servants involved in corruption acts,” she added. “The cases the premier referred to, are being verified and cannot be disclosed,” the deputy director of the Economic Crimes and Corruption Combating Center (ECCCC), Vitalie Verebceanu, stated for the media, when asked if the center had any penal proceedings, with the involvement of top dignitaries. As to “the clans of corrupted servants,” the ECCCC deputy director specified that throughout the year, many fraudulent schemes have been uncovered, including one with 12 employees of the Customs Service. Persons, violating the financial-banking system, working in Moldova white cards, were arrested in the act. According to Vitalie Verebceanu, during this year, the ECCCC has traced out 230 corruption acts. Influence peddling and passive corruption are the most frequent. “The ECCCC officers focused on resounding cases, and the cases presenting no interest were eliminated from the start,” Verebceanu said. Thus, power abuses have been uncovered, with damages of 200 thousand lei, a case of bribery, reaching 150 thousand lei, by a mayor. Penal proceedings were started upon a department chief of the Juridical Direction of the Moldovan National Bank, who took goods, valued 2 million 941 thousand lei. Penal proceedings have been started as to the director of the Republican Center of Rehabilitating Invalids and work veterans, who, through power abuse, caused damages of about 425 thousand lei. Other penal proceedings have been started by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, on a citizen, who extorted 7 thousand euros, in order to influence the judges of the Supreme Court of Justice. Verebceanu refused to give details about the case of a servant of the Central Bank, in order not to harm the inquest. Since the beginning of the year, the ECCCC sent to courts 138 penal cases on corruption, on 143 persons, including 30 mayors and secretaries, specialists of local councils, 13 company directors, 12 schoolmasters, 5 doctors and 4 lawyers. The 4th Anti-Corruption National Conference is unfolding from December 9 to 10, this year, in Chisinau, and is entitled “Progress and Perspectives in Preventing Corruption.”