The former Minister of Justice and former head of the Intelligence and Security Service, Vitalie Pîrlog, was allegedly detained yesterday by law enforcement authorities in the United Arab Emirates, in the city of Dubai, at the request of the authorities from the French Republic, according to sources cited by PulsMedia.MD. So far, the information has not been officially confirmed.

Vitalie Pîrlog is believed to be one of the authors of a corruption scheme through which “Red Notices” for persons wanted internationally were removed from the Interpol database. At least, this is what emerges from an investigation published by Bloomberg.

"Due to his influence within Interpol, Pîrlog, together with his colleagues, could decide which 'Red Notices' should remain in force and which could be cancelled," the publication wrote at the end of the year two thousand twenty-four.

Pîrlog allegedly took advantage of his position as President of the Commission for the Control of Files within the organization. Thus, starting in the autumn of the year two thousand twenty-two, together with his accomplices, Pîrlog allegedly deleted from the Interpol database “Red Notices” for twenty-six persons wanted for various crimes, including financial fraud and drug trafficking.

The information regarding the status of the investigation into Pîrlog’s case has not been officially confirmed, and the prosecutors have not disclosed any names.

On the fourth of June, year two thousand twenty-four, four individuals were detained for their alleged involvement in a corruption scheme through which public officials from the Republic of Moldova and from other countries accepted bribes in exchange for removing internationally wanted criminals from Interpol’s list.

Of the five people detained, four were released by the prosecutor after assessing that there was no risk of flight, obstruction of justice, or further criminal acts.

On the sixth of June, following the examination of a request submitted by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, the investigating judge ordered pre-trial detention for the head of the International Police Cooperation Centre of the General Inspectorate of Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Viorel Țentiu.

"An international criminal organization with ties to individuals from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, and other countries, suspected of cybercrimes causing damages of millions of United States dollars, paid bribes to intermediaries and public officials from the Republic of Moldova in exchange for informing the wanted criminals about the status of Red Notices, in return for payment," said the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Veronica Dragalin.

Following the searches, prosecutors and anticorruption officers seized digital devices, including mobile telephones, laptops, and desktop computers, as well as other objects and documents, which are to be examined for relevance and evidentiary value in the criminal case.

The Prosecutor’s Office identified a group of individuals of various nationalities who implemented a suspected corruption scheme to allow persons wanted by Interpol to obtain asylum or refugee status in the Republic of Moldova and in other countries, with the aim of blocking and deleting arrest requests by paying bribes to public officials, including in the Republic of Moldova.

The alleged amounts paid by the beneficiaries of this scheme amount to several million United States dollars. Interpol alerted the law enforcement authorities in the French Republic — the host country of Interpol — about the scheme and is cooperating in the joint investigation.

In the month of November of the year two thousand twenty-four, in the Interpol case, seizures were applied to assets totalling eleven million seven hundred thousand Moldovan lei. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, with support from the Agency for the Recovery of Criminal Assets, also seized two automobiles — with a total estimated value of approximately one million two hundred thousand Moldovan lei — which represent criminal assets, being part of the bribes paid in the corruption scheme for blocking Interpol Red Notices.

One of the houses that were seized is believed to belong to the former Minister of Justice, Vitalie Pîrlog, according to what Ziarul de Gardă reported.