{"id":5828,"date":"2020-12-10T08:53:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T06:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zdg.md\/en\/?p=5828"},"modified":"2020-12-14T11:27:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T09:27:28","slug":"corruption-in-2020-pronounced-sentences-or-releases-and-lack-of-punishments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zdg.md\/en\/corruption-in-2020-pronounced-sentences-or-releases-and-lack-of-punishments\/","title":{"rendered":"Corruption in 2020: Pronounced Sentences or Releases and Lack of Punishments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2020, no high-ranking Moldovan officials have been sentenced for corruption. On the contrary, judges delay significant cases or release investigated suspects.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice Courts defer high-profile cases for years, reassigning them from one court to another, and, in the end, they are either sent for re-trial or those targeted are cleared.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, the Moldovan judiciary conditionally released two persons whose names are in the Kroll report on the $1 billion bank fraud. The suspects had previously been sentenced for passive corruption, influence peddling, and money laundering.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, on December 9, the world marks International Anticorruption Day. Moldova also celebrates this day; however, it celebrates through bombastic speeches and promises rather than showing actions. A ZdG analysis shows that, between 2019 – 2020, judges have delayed high-profile corruption cases and other similar matters, previously sent to court, without issuing any verdicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-profile cases opened in the last year<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sternioal\u0103 and Chitoroaga cases<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last November, Oleg Sternioal\u0103, a judge at the Supreme Court of Justice, was detained in a criminal case on money laundering in large proportions and illegal enrichment. According to prosecutors’ suspicions, the difference of about 320,000 euros between the suspect’s income and his expenses constitutes hidden illicit goods. The corrupt judge transferred the property right to third parties, covering the source of the goods. Although more than a year passed, the case has not yet been sent to court and the magistrate is free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One year ago, Anticorruption prosecutors initiated a case for illicit enrichment targeting Nicolae Chitoroag\u0103, former head of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime. The case is still under criminal investigation. The suspect, as well as his wedding godfather, was kept in pre-trial detention until December 2019 but was later released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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