Moldovan customs official and ASP employee arrested in 23 million lei corruption case

A customs official from the Hârbovăț post and an employee of the Public Services Agency (ASP) have been placed in preventive arrest for 30 days following a corruption investigation. The Chișinău Court (Ciocana sector) approved the request from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

According to the National Anticorruption Center (CNA), the suspects allegedly operated a scheme to illegally facilitate the issuance of neutral license plates for vehicles that did not meet legal requirements. Investigators claim the officials demanded and received bribes ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 euros per vehicle to bypass regulations and expedite procedures.

Preliminary findings suggest that over 100 neutral license plates were issued illegally through this mechanism. By avoiding import duties and excise taxes, the scheme reportedly caused a loss of over 23 million lei to the state budget. One of the suspects, Serghei Obada, the head of the vehicle registration section in Tiraspol, has declared himself innocent through his lawyer. Authorities believe other ASP and customs employees may be involved in the network.