Thirteen persons, among who is the former director Sergiu Railean, were arrested following searches carried out at the Public Services Agency. The persons are suspected of unjustifiably increasing the quantity and sum of the contract for the purchase of blank IDs, causing damage of over 500 million lei to the state-run Information Resources Center “Registru” and later to the Public Services Agency, IPN reports.

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office said that 60 searches were conducted at the homes, offices and in the cars of former and current employees of the Agency. These are suspected of following, in 2013-2021, the instructions of other persons who formed part of a criminal group created and led by a person who was notorious at that time. They planned a scheme to illegally purchase an automated system for producing and personalizing documents and for purchasing blank identity cards, driver’s licenses and certificates.

The suspects abused their powers and illegally signed contracts for the provision of services and later additional contracts and agreements, in the absence of public procurement procedures, the goal being to favor a concrete economic entity and to benefit from payments that were abusively introduced after the signing of the initial contract. This inevitably led to a rise in the price of IDs issued to citizens.

They are also suspected of later unjustifiably increasing the quantity and sum of the contract for the purchase of blank IDs with personalized technologies, causing damage of over 500 million lei to the state. The money went to the organized criminal group.

The 13 persons were remanded in the custody of the National Anticorruption Center and the Chisinau Police Division. The searches were carried out by anticorruption prosecutors in concert with officers of the Security and Intelligence Service, the National Anticorruption Center and the Internal Protection and Anticorruption Service of the Ministry of Home Affairs.