Two customs employees pre-arrested in $40,000 bribe case; a third under house arrest.
Two of the three defendants in the passive corruption case investigated by the National Anticorruption Directorate and prosecutors from the Balti municipality were placed in preventive detention, while the third defendant is under house arrest. Violina Moraru, the spokesperson for the General Prosecutor's Office, confirmed this information to Teleradio-Moldova.
“The prosecutors from Balti successfully requested a preventive measure, resulting in the preventive arrest of two individuals while the third person has been placed under house arrest,” Moraru announced.
The arrests involve the head of the Centru Customs Office, the head of the Căușeni Internal Customs Post, and a customs broker. They are accused of demanding and receiving over $40,000 in multiple instalments. This money was allegedly given to facilitate the import of goods intended for the Transnistrian region and to evade detection of legal irregularities.
During the searches, authorities seized mobile phones and various currencies from the suspects, totaling approximately 1.1 million lei.
The Customs Service publicly condemned these actions and stated it would fully cooperate with investigative institutions, reaffirming that maintaining integrity is a priority for the organization. The investigation is ongoing.
