Gheorghe Papuc, former Minister of Interior during the communist government, has no criminal record. Released in 2015 by judges of the Supreme Court of Justice from prison and forced to pay a fine of 20 thousand lei for abuse of power, Papuc is considered to have no criminal record, according to a ruling issued by the Chisinau court, Buiucani headquarters. The case has been examined for almost three years.

Gheorghe Papuc was accused in a case filed in 2010 of abuse of office, with serious consequences, since between 1 January 2004 and 12 February 2008 he rented premises at 15 Zelinski Street in Chisinau for use by the Botanica district committee of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), thus damaging public interests with 502 700 lei, money that was paid from the MAI account for the PCRM.

The former minister was also accused by prosecutors of having ordered, on 3 December 2005, the transfer of a car model RAF-2203, held in the MAI’s balance, to the PCRM parliamentary faction. The vehicle was used between 2005 and September 2009 for the needs of the PCRM parliamentary faction. Through these actions, the MAI budget was damaged by 326 200 lei. According to the indictment, Papuc did this because he was pursuing the aim of his career promotion, maintaining his position and favouring the PCRM activity.

In December 2011, Papuc was acquitted of the charges by a ruling of the Centru court.

In January 2015, however, by a decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal, the sentence of the first instance was totally overturned and Papuc was sentenced, cumulatively, to four years’ imprisonment with execution, being found guilty of “abuse of power” (3 years’ imprisonment) and negligence in service (2 years’ imprisonment), with deprivation of the right to work in the MAI subdivisions for a term of 5 years, with the main sentence being served in a semi-closed prison.

In June 2015, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the partial annulment of the decision of the Chisinau CA on the conviction of Gheorghe Papuc for “abuse of power” and the retrial of the case with a new decision. A panel of five judges then ordered Papuc to be convicted of “abuse of power” and to be sentenced to a criminal fine of 20,000 lei and deprived of the right to work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs for 5 years.

In December 2020, Papuc’s lawyer filed a request for a review of the case, and in a sentence issued in August 2023 a panel of judges of the Chisinau Court, Buiucani seat, annulled the decision of the SCJ of June 2015 and issued a new sentence whereby Gheorghe Papuc was convicted for abuse of power, with an order to pay 2 thousand lei, and the sentence is considered to have been served. Therefore, the court determined that Papuc is considered to have no criminal record.

Gheorghe Papuc was Moldova’s longest-serving and most controversial post-Soviet Interior Minister. He was accused of corruption and later of abuse of office following the events of April 2009. But no one has ever been able to prove his guilt. During Papuc’s time as minister, his wealth grew considerably, with ZdG writing in 2013 about his property empire, divided up in the names of grandchildren or daughters.

Gheorghe Papuc served as minister of interior affairs from February 2002 to March 2008 and from October 2008 to September 2009. Previously, he held various officer positions in the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Interior. The press reported that Papuc was under criminal investigation for forgery in the Russian Federation in 1995-96, when he held senior positions in the MIA of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic. From 1997 to 2002 he was the commander of the Lightning Special Purpose Brigade. In 2002, Papuc was promoted by Voronin to the special rank of police major-general, and in 2005 – to police lieutenant-general. Papuc is a controversial figure, with several compromising reports about him appearing in the press over the years. He was even said to have been under house arrest for several days on suspicion of involvement in drug smuggling in the notorious “Heroin” case. The information, however, has not been officially confirmed. Papuc has also been accused of holding false academic papers, but he has never commented on the allegations. The former interior minister was also accused of tax fraud and abuse of office following the events of 7 April 2009, and several criminal cases have been opened against him.