Gheorghe Meaun, the former president of the Sângerei district elected on the PLDM lists, who was detained in 2015 by officers of the National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA) and prosecutors in a case of passive bribery and abuse of office, was acquitted on the grounds that the existence of criminal offences was not established. The sentence was handed down in early May by magistrate Grigore Manoli of the Chisinau Court of Appeal, Centre Court.

Accused and tried for two episodes of corruption

The former president of the Sangerei district was accused in 2015 of extorting a laptop worth 9,240 lei from the representative of an IT service provider. During Gheorghe Meaun’s tenure as district president, the company allegedly took part in the tender to obtain the right to provide services for servicing and maintaining the district council’s computing equipment. However, in order to be awarded the contract, the president allegedly demanded a laptop as a reward from Grigore Guzun, the manager of the “Digital Conect” LLC, and promised him protection in his dealings with the council and other local authorities, the NAC said in a statement issued in October 2015.

In another episode, the former president of the district was accused that at the end of August 2013 he gave advice and instructions to the head of the Sîngerei Police Inspectorate (IP) at that time, Efim Juncu, to use his work situation for material and personal interest, expressed by managing public financial resources contrary to their intended purpose. Gheorghe Meaun did not admit his guilt in committing the acts charged by prosecutors.

The court’s comments on the charges: “allegations without evidential support”

According to the sentence issued by Judge Grigore Manoli, in the text of the indictment order and in the text of the indictment, the prosecutor erroneously indicated that Gheorghe Meaun claimed the laptop from Grigore Guzun, the administrator of the company in question, in order to ensure the provision of services by the company for the District Council in the period 2013-2014, following the agreement made prior to the conclusion of some contracts, “the court assessing these factual circumstances indicated in the content of the procedural documents mentioned as allegations without evidentiary support”.

“Therefore, even if the defendant Meaun Gheorghe Nicolae undertook some actions on July 29, 2015, July 31, 2015 and August 21, 2015, which would have materialized by requesting and accepting a laptop model “Acer Aspire V3-33 1 Steel Gray”, except that on these dates the defendant was no longer the chairman of the Sângerei District Council, certainly not a person of public dignity, and the witness Guzun Grigore, when questioned, said that “He does not remember why he asked at that meeting to extend the contract for 2016. The laptop was sent to conclude the contract with I “Guzun Grigore” (another company owned by Grigore Guzun, n.r.) for 2016″, and for these reasons it cannot be considered as a special subject of the offence provided for in Article 324 para. (3) letter a) of the Criminal Code (…).

Therefore, in order to hold the defendant Meaun Gheorghe Nicolae criminally liable, it was necessary for the established factual circumstances to be included in the composition of the offence made up of four elements of the offence: object; objective aspect; subject and subjective aspect (…)”, the sentence reads.

At the same time, the court emphasizes that “in the absence of evidence, it cannot be held that the defendant Meaun Gheorghe Nicolae has used the situation of service, as an accomplice and by prior agreement with Juncu Efim, head of the IP Sângerei at that time, causing considerable damage to public interests.”

Previously, Gheorghe Meaun had been involved in several scandals, including in the press. In 2013, it was reported that public money was used to buy the former district chairman a company car worth almost 400 thousand lei. In the spring of 2015, during the election campaign, former Prime Minister Iurie Leanca accused the administration of the Sangerei district, especially the PLDM representatives, of “putting obstacles in his way” when organising meetings with voters, notes moldova.org.

On 20 October 2015, the CNA announced that the former chairman of the Sîngerei district council, Gheorghe Meaun, then a councillor, was detained for 72 hours in a corruption case. Subsequently, the magistrates of Buiucani Court applied a preventive measure – provisional release under judicial control – to him, which has since been terminated.