The court on April 29 decided to extend for 25 days the arrest warrant against former health minister Andrei Usatyi, who is investigated as a suspect in the case of the arranged tender contests in the health system. Usatyi will remain in the hospital of the Pruncul penitentiary, where he was transferred several days after he was operated at the Cardiology Institute. The arrest warrants against the director of the Emergency Hospital Gheorghe Ciobanu, director of the Taraclia District Hospital Valeriu Jelev and director of the Cardiology Institute Vitalie Moscalu, who are involved in this case, were extended by 30 days, IPN reports.

Anticorruption prosecutor Dorin Compan said there are reasons and sufficient proofs justifying the extension of the periods of arrest. Besides the 16 suspects arrested earlier, seven persons are investigated as suspects in the same case outside prison. These work in the business sector and in the health sector.

Dorin Compan noted that additional investigation measures will be taken, but didn’t specify if these will be searches or arrests.

The director of the Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices Alexandru Coman on April 28 was released from arrest and placed under house arrest.

The damage caused to the state by arranging tender contests in the health system was estimated about 30 million lei.