Officers of the National Anticorruption Center arrested the mayor of Molesti village of Ialoveni district following a denouncement. According to a communiqué from the Center, the mayor is suspected of passive corruption. He was put under arrest for 72 hours, but faces up to 10 years behind bars, IPN reports.

According to the denouncer, the mayor asked for 1,000 lei from him for issuing a certificate showing that he was the owner of an agricultural plot. The plot was distributed to him by the Molesti mayor’s office in 1992 following the apportionment of common land.

The arrest was made when the mayor was going out of the mayor’s office. The money was found on the mayor. A criminal case was started over passive corruption.