Seven policemen from Călărași and Strășeni are under criminal investigation after they allegedly asked for money from drivers stopped in traffic. The officers supposedly asked for sums of money in order not to impose penalties on drivers for violating the traffic regulations, IPN reports.

The investigations, carried out by officers of the Internal Protection and Anticorruption Service and anticorruption prosecutors, began last summer. Six policemen are from the Strășeni and Călărași Patrol Service, which is part of the "Center" Patrol Division of the National Public Security Inspectorate, and the seventh is an employee of the Strășeni Police Inspectorate. They are suspected that, in exchange for money, they did not take the required measures to document the contraventions and crimes committed by drivers. In some cases, the police officers presumably took action to hide the violations.

So far, four of the policemen have been officially notified of their status as suspects, and the others are to be questioned. Under the law, they benefit from the presumption of innocence.

Law enforcement officers continue to analyze the accumulated evidence in order to establish all the circumstances and people involved.