Two men who managed firms were placed under arrest for 30 days on charges of swindle and abuse of power and causing of considerable damage to the interests of a legal entity, IPN reports.

According to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, the two managers designed a scheme to dispossess a foreign businessman of over 66 million lei. The two signed a fictitious contract, antedating this and not indicating it in the accounting records. By this, a side committed itself to carry out a study of the potential of the Moldovan market and to formulate proposals for registering pharmaceutical products with the Agency of Medicines. The cost of services was set at 45.3 million lei.

Profiting from the fact that one of the accused men simultaneously held the post of manager of the firm that undertook to provide the given services and managed the foreigner’s business, the two signed a contract for the transfer of the debt by which the foreign company became the new debtor.

After the two documents were signed, the manager of the contracting firm went to court and claimed the debt plus the penalty, the overdue interest, the state tax and costs for legal assistance. Afterward, the two managers signed a reconciliation agreement, recognizing thus the indicated debt. Being misled, the court accepted the application and confirmed the settlement, ordering to collect the debt from the foreign company.

Consequently, the bank account of the foreign company was blocked and about 4 million lei was withdrawn from it based on an executory decision. The company was caused considerable damage and stopped work.

The two suspects face 8 to 15 years in jail for swindle and ban on performing a particular activity for a period of up to five years.