The Balti Appeals Court put the Bender Appeals Court judge Nicolae Nogai on probation for a three-year period for passing an illegal decision that had serious consequences. The judge was also banned from holding public posts for a period of five years. Earlier, the Causeni District Court acquitted the judge on the same count, but the prosecutors appealed the decision, IPN reports.

According to the prosecutors, the judge groundlessly legalized an ad-hoc arbitration decision taken in Saint Petersburg, concerning the sale of shareholdings in BC “Moldova Agroindbank” SA. The judge’s decision was annulled by the higher court.

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office asked for four years in jail for the judge and for a five-year ban on holding public posts. The Appeals Court’s decision can be challenged in a higher court.

This is the second case in Moldova’s history that a judge is convicted for passing an illegal judgment. A week ago, a judge from Hancesti was dismissed from post, being earlier fined 8,000 lei and banned from holding posts in the judicial system and the law enforcement bodies for a period of five years.