The member of a criminal group, who in 2004 fraudulently took possession of an apartment in the center of Chisinau, which he sold once and was detained on the second attempt, has been sent to trial, the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) announces.

Law enforcement officials note that the man, now sent to trial, successfully evaded prosecution for 18 years, due to the fact that he perfected false identity documents and moved to live in Ukraine, and was reported wanted by the authorities in Chisinau. He was detained on his recent return to Moldova and placed in pre-trial detention at the request of PCCOCS prosecutors.

“Although he does not admit his guilt, the evidence administered by the officers of the General Directorate of Criminal Prosecution of the Police, under the direction of the PCCOCS prosecutor, proves otherwise. In particular, he and the convicted member of the criminal group have been able to fraudulently take possession of an apartment valued at over 600 000 lei.

The scheme was implemented in several stages. Initially, the convicted member of the criminal group rented the apartment. A month later, he promised the landlady to facilitate and sponsor her daughters’ studies in England. For this purpose, the convicted offender asked them for a set of documents, including power of attorney for the management and disposal of the apartment, in the name of the landlady,” PCCOCS reports.

Two months after renting the apartment, he claimed that the promised departure to study in England could only take place through the Ministry of Education in Kiev, Ukraine. To this end, the man bought them travel tickets and paid for their accommodation there for two weeks.

During this period, according to the PCCOCS, the newly indicted defendant, together with the other members of the organised criminal group, fraudulently made out an identity card in the name of the owner, after which the transactions were carried out using false documents.

“As a result, the apartment was illegally sold to the defendant, who resold it, over a week later, for more than 360,000 lei, and on the same day the pre-final closing of its sale to another person took place, from whom they would have received more than 380,000 lei, had they not been detained by the police.

The detention took place after the second buyer contacted some of the neighbours of the apartment advertised for sale, who told them that the owner was in fact a lady. Therefore, the authorities and the landlady were notified, after the latter in the meantime returned from Kiev (when she concluded that the promise of going to study in England does not come true),” PCCOCS representatives also announce.

According to the law, swindling committed by an organised criminal group on a particularly large scale is punishable by 8 to 15 years’ imprisonment and deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to engage in certain activities for up to 5 years.

He is also to be tried, according to the law, for unlawfully obtaining and using false official documents, during which time, until a final judgment is handed down, the defendant is presumed innocent by law.

Another member of this criminal group was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison in 2005.