DOC // Published in Official Journal. Investigation bodies’ competences for complex corruption, financial fraud and organized crime cases to be defined more clearly

The competences of investigation bodies regarding complex cases of corruption, financial fraud and organized crime will be defined more clearly. The legislative amendments to this effect and the presidential decree for their promulgation were published today in the Official Journal and have entered into force.

The document was drafted by the Ministry of Justice and provides for a clearer delineation of the competences of the institutions responsible for investigating economic and corruption offences. Thus, the National Anticorruption Center (CNA) will investigate serious cases of bank fraud in which the damage exceeds the threshold of 250 average monthly salaries in the economy. Cases with lower damages remain under the competence of the tax authorities. According to the authors of the bill, this measure will allow the CNA to focus on complex cases, including those involving external funds and resources from the budget of the European Union.

The CNA will also have the competence to investigate money laundering as an autonomous offence. In this context, the document contains certain changes to the organizational structure of the CNA in order to ensure a unified and coherent approach to regulating management functions within the institution and its subdivisions. In the context of expanding the CNA’s areas of competence, an additional position of deputy director will be established, and the mandate of the institution’s director will be limited to a maximum of two terms. At the same time, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) will lead the criminal investigation in high-level corruption cases involving senior officials, including the President of the country, the Speaker of Parliament, members of Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Ombudsperson, judges, members of the Superior Council of Magistracy and the Superior Council of Prosecutors, as well as the leadership of the CNA and the Intelligence and Security Service. According to the authors, the amendments are necessary to guarantee independent, specialized and impartial investigations, to prevent conflicts of interest, situations of institutional self-control and interference with criminal proceedings, and to strengthen public trust in state institutions.

At the same time, in order to increase the efficiency of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), minor offences or those that do not present a high degree of complexity are excluded from its competence. Thus, the PCCOCS will focus on cases of terrorism, offences committed by criminal organizations and other exceptionally serious cases.

The State Tax Service and the Customs Service will carry out criminal investigation in economic‑financial and customs cases, under the conditions provided by law and under the guidance of the PCCOCS, if the damage caused does not exceed 50,000 conventional units. The document also clarifies the possibility of appealing all court decisions regarding preventive measures, at any stage of the proceedings, until the judgment on the merits is delivered. The amendment eliminates a legislative gap that allowed only certain decisions to be appealed, to the detriment of the prosecution.

The authors of the bill state that its drafting is determined by the obligations assumed by the Republic of Moldova under the Reform Agenda for European Union integration. The legislative amendments enter into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette.