An employee of the State Tax Service was arrested for 72 hours, while another one is wanted in a criminal case of passive and active corruption. The case involves four more persons, including businessmen. In the morning of July 12, officers of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and the Security and Intelligence Service carried out searches at the homes and offices of the suspects, where they found and seized documents, computers and memory cards, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in February – March 2017 the employees of the State Tax Service asked and received 180,000 lei from two businessmen for accepting an application for being refunded the VAT on the export of fruit for October 2016 submitted by these.

Later, the employees asked and received a total of 70,000 lei from another businessman for not documenting violations in the activity of the companies managed by this.

The arrested employee faces five to ten years in jail and a fine of 300,000 to 400,000 lei, with ban on holding particular public posts for a period of seven to ten years.

In a press statement, the State Tax Service expresses its regret at this case and says it will offer the prosecutors all the necessary support for the investigation to be objective and swift. The Service will analyze the legal procedures for suspending the arrested employee from post for the period of the investigation.