Three men have been arraigned on arson charges for allegedly setting fire to buses of a passenger transportation company. The suspects, one current and one former police officer as well as one civilian, were arrested three months ago.

The Prosecutor General’s Office says in a press release that the organizers of the group are two residents of Chisinau municipality, managers of transport companies. Targeting a competitor, they acted by blackmailing and burning buses belonging to the competing company, in locations that included Moldova, the Russian Federation and the Czech Republic. It is estimated that the amount of damage caused by the arson acts exceeds 2.8 million lei.

At the end of April 2019, law-enforcement officers appeared in the houses, offices and vehicles of the accused persons. At the request of prosecutors, immediately after arrest, the perpetrators of arson were held on remand pending trial. The requests to detain the organizers were rejected and they were released on bail.

The investigative judge's decisions were appealed by the prosecutor, and arrest warrants were subsequently issued against the suspects. Currently, four suspects have been declared fugitives. Among them there are the managers of the transport companies “Ednateric Trans” and “Transeric Tur”.

The burned buses belong to the transport operator “Sarvalteh Auto”.