Twelve citizens of Moldova suspected in a money laundering case handled by Romanian authorities. Searches carried out in Chisinau and Anenii Noi

Prosecutors from the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), together with officers of the National Investigation Inspectorate (INI), conducted on Wednesday, December 7, searches at the homes of 12 people in Chisinau and Anenii Noi, who have the status of suspects in a money laundering case investigated by Romanian authorities.

The criminal period covers the years 2018-2021, when the 12 citizens of Moldova aged between 35 and 67, domiciled in Chisinau and Anenii Noi, carried out their criminal activity as intermediaries in the creation of companies in Romania, through which illegally obtained funds were laundered, both in Romania and in Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary.

“As a next step, the companies created were used as a front for moving, hiding and laundering the proceeds of crime. Specifically, the amounts involved exceed €70 million, with some transfers exceeding €3 million,” the prosecution states.

The case is being handled by Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), with the participation in searches and hearings in Moldova of the neighbouring state’s judicial police officers. The case concerns an international criminal group laundering tens of millions of euros from computer fraud, using front companies in Hong Kong and Israel.

The Moldovan citizens targeted in the raids have been assigned suspect status for further investigation in the main DIICOT case and prosecution continues, while they are presumed innocent by law. As for one suspect, PCCOCS prosecutors are to investigate his involvement in drug trafficking, which was seized during the searches.