The Prosecutor General's Office of Moldova sent to court a criminal case separated from the case under the general title Metalferos, and one of the five criminal groups may be in the dock.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, in particular, in the case sent to court, 8 persons were named accused of committing the following crimes: creation and management of an organized criminal group; fraud committed on an especially large scale and laundering of money obtained by criminal means, committed by an organized criminal group and on an especially large scale. According to the prosecution, in 2018-2019 the leader of a criminal gang organized in collaboration with the then director of Metalferos, took over the implementation of the criminal plan, developed by him, and signed contracts for the purchase of ferrous and non-ferrous metals by Metalferos directly from economic agents under the jurisdiction and management, directly or through persons, attracted by the leader of an organized criminal group, who were deliberately offered a significant price, more profitable than other business entities with which they also had direct contracts for the supply of Metalferos metal. On the basis of agreements concluded with bank accounts of business entities managed through intermediaries and/or directly by the leader of an organized criminal group, Metalferos at various times transferred funds for the purchase of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from them. From the amounts received from Metalferos to the accounts of business entities managed by the same leader of the organized criminal group, on the basis of the agreements concluded, he organized the transfer of money to the accounts of other business entities managed through intermediaries by him, in order to create the appearance of legality, especially the profitability of the activities of managed business entities, with little difference between the funds received from Metalferos and the funds transferred for the purchase of ferrous metals. Continuing to achieve the intended criminal goal, the leader of the organized criminal group, knowing with certainty that the real price of purchasing ferrous metals from the population - individuals is much lower, given that the enterprises that he managed through intermediaries had areas specially designed for collecting metals, through incited by him persons, as well as other persons not currently identified by the criminal investigation body, organized and ensured the submission of acquisition documents to commercial banks, with deliberately distorted data on the price of ferrous metal, with subsequent write-off of cash at an increased price from the accounts of controlled economic entities. Subsequently, after the withdrawal of these funds, the members of the criminal group, following the instructions of its leader, sent these funds to the latter. From the sums received from the members of an organized criminal group performing the tasks set by the head of the criminal community, the leader of this criminal group, through as yet unidentified persons, distributed the money received by those responsible for their acquisition from the population, and the rest of the illegally acquired money was divided among the leaders of the criminal organization. As a result of criminal schemes, Metalferos suffered damage in the amount of 736 million 511 thousand 551.56 lei. The Prosecutor General's Office clarified that the criminal investigation continues with respect to the remaining 4 organized crime groups, including the leader of the criminal organization. At the moment, the prosecutor's office is taking all necessary measures to identify all the perpetrators, as well as to confiscate criminal assets. // 08.02.2022 — InfoMarket
