Eighteen persons, among who are the vice director and another five functionaries of the Territorial Development Projects Institute, were arrested as a result of searches carried out by officers of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office with the assistance of the National Anticorruption Center in a criminal case started over abuse of power, passive corruption, active corruption and influence peddling, IPN reports.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, besides, there were arrested 12 private individuals, including beneficiaries of companies. The persons arrested following the 55 searches carried out in the morning of August 9 are now being questioned by observing the procedural guarantees.

In March – July 2021, specialists of the Institute asked and received sums varying between €250 and €2,000 from private individuals and beneficiaries of companies for diminishing the grade of the soil in studies covering lots owned by those who ordered pedological investigations, causing this way considerable damage to the budget of the local public authorities.