The litigation involving the State Enterprise Registru, the agency responsible for providing the population with identification documents, is rooted in a leasing agreement for the provision of special equipment signed in April 1996 between the Moldovan authorities and the Ireland-based company Intercomsoft LTD, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MTIC) explained in a press statement. The agreement was terminated in 2006, after which, until 2010, Moldova and Itercomsoft representatives met repeatedly in foreign courts. On 5 November 2010, MTIC lodged a claim with the Economic Court of Moldova in an attempt to recoup legal costs and expenses. In response, on 24 November 2010, Intercomsoft filed a counterclaim in relation to the termination of the 1996 agreement. While MTIC's claim was rejected, the counterclaim was admitted and subsequently the Court awarded Intercomsoft $71 million. The ruling was appealed in the Economic Court of Appeals, and on 13 December 2011, it reduced the payout to $41.5 million. MTIC and Registru appealed the decision in the Supreme Court of Justice. It was further stated that Minister Pavel Filip requested the relevant authorities to check whether this claim that targets public property is part of a fraudulent scheme with the involvement of Moldovan administrative and judicial officials. Further, Prime Minister Vlad Filat ordered the creation of a task force to identify solutions to protect public property and, if this is the case, to take action against those involved in the fraudulent scheme.