The police arrested for 72 hours the manager of several firms that illegally imported golden jewelry, precious stones and metals and raw material through the Transnistrian region and the northern border of Moldova. Another four employees of the firms are investigated for tax evasion and smuggling outside prison, IPN reports.

The suspects are aged between 26 and 51. The police had followed them during six months. Alexei Bacos, division head at the National Investigations Inspectorate, told a news conference that as a result of searches carried out on March 1 and 2, there were seized precious stones and metals, melted gold and other raw material to the value of over 70 million lei.

“The raw material was processed in a clandestine workshop, where the articles were illegally marked,” stated Alexei Bacos.

The firms had worked for over five years and paid very small taxes into the state budget. According to the police, the items from precious metals could be bought by anyone from Moldova, without knowing that these were made illegally.

The men face three to ten years in jail. The goods could be confiscated according to a special procedure and the money obtained from their sale would be transferred to the state budget.