The director, vice director and a worker of the Chisinau Cemetery “Saint Lazarus”, who are suspected of asking for additional payments, besides the state tax, from persons who were to bury relatives, will stay under arrest for 30 days at Penitentiary No. 30 in Chisinau. The sentence was passed by judges of the Ciocana branch of the Chisinau City Court. The information was confirmed for IPN by press officer of the National Anticorruption Center (NAC) Angela Starinschi.
Other three suspects will be investigated outside custody as they admitted their guilt and agreed to cooperate.
Two days ago, six persons were arrested on suspicion that they implemented an unjust enrichment scheme that consisted in the illegal sale of burial places at “Saint Lazarus” Cemetery in Chisinau. The scheme involved the cemetery head, his deputy, the accountant and other administration members. The arrests were made within over 130 criminal cases. The NAC said that over half a million lei was collected by this scheme during three months alone. Besides the state tax of 1,051 lei for a burial place, the group members levied additional payments that could rise to 5,000 or even 7,000 lei. Those who wanted to reserve a place at the cemetery for the family or relatives had to pay twice more than the state tax of 4,612 lei.
