Four employees of the National Food Safety Agency and two businessmen were arrested for 72 hours on suspicion of misuse of power and swindle on May 19. According to the National Anticorruption Center, the suspects caused considerable damage to the state budget by their actions, IPN reports.
Those arrested include the head of the Agency’s Phytosanitary Products Control Division and three employees of the local subdivisions of Ialoveni, Drochia and Dubasari. These are suspected of issuing phytosanitary certificates to business entities for exporting apples to the Russian Federation. The companies exported apples from Poland to Russia through Belarus without crossing the border of the Republic of Moldova.
It was determined that in 2016, the given business entities illegally obtained 260,000 lei in VAT refund from the state budget after presenting fictitious documents concerning exports to the fiscal bodies.
Anticorruption prosecutors, in concert with officers of the Security and Intelligence Service and the National Anticorruption Center, carried out searches at the head office of the National Food Safety Agency and the companies that benefitted from functionaries’ services. The six persons face up to ten years in jail for misuse of power and up to 15 years in jail for swindle.
