Three persons who own a chain of cafés in Chisinau were arrested on suspicion of employing a double entry accounting system by which they caused significant damage to the state, IPN has learned from the National Anticorruption Center.

The café owners instructed the waiters not to register the money collected from clients through cash registers. Thus, a part of the earned money wasn’t indicated in the accounting documents.

According to preliminary investigations, two of the five cafés run by the suspects in half a year illegally collected about 4 million lei. The three face a fine of 60,000 to 100,000 lei or up to six years in jail for tax evasion.

In another criminal case over money laundering, the suspects are accused of purchasing facilities in Chisinau in 2003 in order to make the money earned illegally look lawful.

The suspects were put under arrest for 72 hours. If they are found guilty, they will serve 5 to 10 years in prison.