Assets, money confiscated from criminal activities to be used for social or public interest purposes in Moldova

The assets and money confiscated from criminal activities will be used for social purposes or in the public interest. The parliament today voted, in the first reading,  a draft law that establishes a special mechanism for the use of confiscated assets.

The legislative initiative belongs to the Ministry of Justice and was developed following proposals presented by public institutions and civil society organizations, in order to enhance the efficiency of assets’ recovery and investigations into financial crime. It also aims to ensure that seized assets are managed and used appropriately, benefiting the public. The authors say that this approach transforms the negative consequences of crime into positive resources, strengthening public trust in justice.

Thus, the Agency for the Recovery of Criminal Assets (ARBI) will be responsible for the record of confiscated assets, except for amounts of money, which are managed by the State Fiscal Service. ARBI will publish the list of assets, and public or non-governmental institutions will be able to request their use. At the same time, the document stipulates a direct or indirect prohibition on confiscated assets by the person from whom they were confiscated or by their relatives (up to the fourth degree).

Under the document, a Commission for the management of confiscated assets will be created, which will evaluate submitted requests and make decisions on using the confiscated assets or amounts of money for social purposes or public interest. This commission will consist of nine members, eight of whom are representatives of various ministries and one is a representative of civil society, appointed by the Ministry of Justice.

After the assets are transferred for use to public or non-governmental institutions, ARBI will verify their use. The authors propose that 70 per cent of confiscated amounts of money be transferred to the state budget, and 30 per cent - be allocated for social use and public interests.

In 2024, the State Fiscal Service confiscated over 7.4 million lei, and ARBI seized assets totaling 1.2 billion lei.

The draft law on the use of confiscated assets for social purposes or public interest will be submitted to parliament for examination in the second reading. The authors propose that, after adoption, the document comes into force three months after its publication in the Official Journal.