An expert-psychiatrist of the National Psychiatric Hospital was arrested on suspicion that she organized a scheme by which she helped persons accused of murder or sexual offenses of avoiding criminal liability. According to prosecutors, the woman acted in collusion with her partner who played the role of intermediary. For certifying that the person was mentally incompetent when this committed the crime, the clients paid €4,000 to €20,000 depending on the gravity of the crime, IPN reports.

According to the National Anticorruption Center, five such cases have been identified so far. A number of searches were carried out on May 16. As a result, the psychiatrist and one of the beneficiaries were arrested for 72 hours. These are suspected of passive and active corruption. Another four persons who used the service of the expert are investigated as suspects.

At the end of this January, anticorruption officers arrested a man from Chisinau for asking for €20,000 from a murderer’s mother for ridding this of jail. The man, who later turned out to be the psychiatrist’s partner, said they can influence members of the commission of the National Psychiatric Hospital so that these declare the culprit mentally incompetent. The man is investigated for traffic of influence and faces a fine of 150,000 to 200,000 lei or two to six years in prison. The psychiatrist is liable to up to ten years behind bars, while those who benefitted from her service to up to seven years in jail.

When the case was documented, the expert worked at the National Psychiatric Hospital as a psychiatrist. Several days ago she transferred to another job at the Emergency Hospital.