More chiefs from Moldovan National Food Safety Agency, veterinary physicians prosecuted within comprehensive corruption scheme

Chisinau, 25 May /MOLDPRES/ - More civil servants of the Chisinau municipal department for food safety, including veterinary physicians, are prosecuted for the fraudulent issuance of sanitary and veterinary certificates to economic agents. Today, National Anticorruption Centre (CNA) officers made raids with searches at offices, homes and vehicles of the people prosecuted.     

According to data by CNA, some chiefs of the aforementioned department, in complicity with the a group of veterinary physicians, started a scheme of extorting assets and money from economic agents, which were carrying out activity of selling food products in the area of the Chisinau city, in order to process the authorizations needed. The protection tax, paid by economic agents, implied the issuance of quality certificates, as well as the avoiding of sanitary and veterinary controls planned, as well as other verifications concerning the observance of the requirements of COVID-19 prophylaxis.  

During the scheme’s documentation, law-enforcers found out that the department’s deputy head would have systematically claimed, accepted and received financial means, as well as food products from his subordinates.

Thus, the deputy head and one veterinary physician were detained for 72 hours, being suspected of passive and active corruption. Following searches, sums of money in Moldovan lei and foreign currency (3,335 de euros, 330 de dollars ş 33,  500 de lei) were found at the home of one of the suspects; the origin of the money is to be established within the inquiry.    

The criminal prosecution in this case was started in late 2020. At the moment, 57 criminal files are pending; they are connected in a single procedure, in which 25 people have status of suspects and three ones are accused (home arrest).  

photo: CNA