Deputy minister of economy Valeriu Triboi on March 31 was arrested by anticorruption officers on charges of abuse of power and causing of considerable damage to the state budget, IPN reports.

According to the National Anticorruption Center, it was established that the suspect, abusing his position, bought a building to the value of almost 1 million lei from SA “Moldtelecom”, whose founder is the Ministry of Economy, through the agency of third persons. Afterward, the functionary leased out the building for a period of 10 years to the company “Furnizarea Energiei Electrice Nord”. He then instructed decision makers of the company to repair the building at their own expense. A sum of 4 million lei was allocated for repair works, according to relevant documents.

On March 31, prosecutors and officers of the National Anticorruption Center carried out searches in the office, car and at the home of the functionary. There was seized related evidence.

The functionary faces a fine of 67,500 to 117,500 lei or two to six years in jail, in both of the cases with ban on holding public posts or performing particular activities during five to ten years.

The functionary will remain in the custody of the National Anticorruption Center for 72 hours. The prosecutors continue the investigation to identify all those involved in this case.