Four Interior Ministry officials were arrested in Moldova in a major operation to catch government officials sabotaging Interpol red notices, Euractiv reported.
US and French officers participated in an operation targeting 12 suspects on Tuesday, June 4. It took place in 33 different locations in Moldova, according to France’s financial crimes prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert. FBI agents as well as members of the French financial prosecutor’s office and anti-corruption service assisted the Moldovan anti-corruption agents.
Bohnert also stated that Moldovan officials intended to “obstruct Interpol’s issuance of red notices targeting wanted international fugitives” linked to organised crime. The bribes totalled “several million dollars,” he added.
A group of people of different nationalities is suspected of mounting a corruption scheme allowing wanted people to block or delete red notices targeting them, by paying bribes to public agents, especially in Moldova.
Bohnert reported that security forces seized digital devices, documents, and other items for analysis. He stated that the French part of the investigation began last August “based on information supplied by Interpol,” the international police force headquartered in Lyon, southeastern France.
In a separate statement, Interpol revealed that it had discovered “a small number of cases” in which someone had attempted to “block and erase red notices.” As a result, that led to internal action and a warning from French authorities.
A joint French-Moldovan investigation team was set up in April with the help of the FBI. Veronica Dragalin, head of Moldova’s anti-corruption prosecutor’s office, declared a willingness to fight corruption “in all its forms.”
We are determined to fight high-level corruption in all its forms, especially those schemes that endanger criminal cases around the world. This joint investigation is proof that international cooperation… is essential in detecting and stopping corrupt criminals who are not limited by national borders.
Interpol also stated that a parallel UK cybercrime investigation “revealed that some people in Moldova suspected of being corrupt may have sent information on red notices to wanted people.”
Juergen Stock, Interpol’s secretary general, said the alleged fraud involved only “a small number” of the 70,000 red notices. Meanwhile, the organisation issues around 10,000 red notices each year.
Moldova is an official candidate for EU accession from June 2022 and has pledged to fight corruption.
