The Anticorrosion Prosecutor’s Office identified a scheme for appropriating grants provided through Council of Europe programs. Three representatives of civil society were arrested in the moment they were sharing out the money obtained in a fraudulent way, IPN reports.
According to a communiqué from the Prosecutor General’s Office, decision makers of a number of nongovernmental organizations started to be monitored by the anticorruption prosecutors after representatives of the Council of Europe asked the Moldovan law enforcement bodies to become involved and check how the foreign grants offered for implementing projects were used.
The Anticorrosion Prosecutor’s Office started a criminal case for swindle, abuse of power, tax evasion and money laundering. It is supposed that one of the arrested persons bought an apartment in the center of Chisinau with money obtained by illegal methods.
The given NGOs presented incorrect information about their activity, the methods of using the money and for what purposes to a foundation. They drew up programs concerning pseudo-activities and false reports, obtaining illegally large amounts from European donors.
The damage caused by them to the European donors since 2009 amounted to about €50,000.
