General Police Inspectorate asks Interpol to issue wanted notices for two former police officials of Moldova

The General Police Inspectorate (IGP) has sent Interpol a request to issue international wanted notices for the former head of the IGP, Alexandru Pinzari, and the former head of Directorate 5 of the National Investigation Inspectorate (INI), Valeriu Cojocaru, both convicted in the case of fictitious employments at the Interior Ministry (MAI).

The information was confirmed to the agency by IGP representatives. Following the request, the international authority will examine the application and will later inform the institution about the decision taken.

The former IGP chief, the former head of Directorate No. 5 of the INI, and the president of the Fighting & Entertainment Association (FEA) in Moldova, Dorin Damir, were sentenced at the beginning of this week to three years in prison each, to be served in a semi-closed penitentiary, in the case of fictitious employments at the MAI.

The judges delivered the decision in the absence of the three defendants. Throughout the trial, they pleaded not guilty. Dorin Damir was detained shortly after the sentence had been pronounced.

The judges found that the two former MAI heads had committed abuses and arranged fictitious employments. Thus, Dorin Damir worked at the former Directorate No. 5 of the INI without actually reporting to work, receiving a salary for an alleged “undercover mission.”

According to the prosecution, in 2017, Dorin Damir was fictitiously employed at a specialized police subdivision. To create the appearance of an employment relationship that existed de facto, reports, salary tables, evaluation sheets, and other documents were drawn up in the defendant’s name. As a result, he unjustifiably benefited from promotions in rank and from an undue salary of approximately 170,000 lei.

The other two defendants orchestrated this hiring by circumventing legal provisions regarding police activity and the status of police officers. In 2018, the fictitiously employed person got an identity card and passport in another person’s name, using these documents for personal purposes and crossing the state border of Moldova on their basis.

The sentence is not final and can be appealed in accordance with legal procedures.

Dorin Damir, who is the godson of former leader of the Moldovan Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc, is also under investigation in other criminal cases involving money laundering, tax evasion and blackmail.