History
The Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption is a law enforcement body, specialized in counteracting economic-financial and fiscal offences and of corruption as well. The legal framework of the Center’s activity includes the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova , the Law regarding the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, adopted by the Parliament on the 6th of June 2002 , other normative acts, including the international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.
Principles of activity
The Center exert its activity based on principles of legitimacy, respect of human fundamental rights and liberties, opportunity, combination of public methods and means with the secret ones, personal and crew management, cooperation with other public authorities, NGO-s and citizen.
Attributions
The Center’s attributions consist of preventing, detecting, analyzing and curbing contraventions, economic-financial and fiscal offences; counteracting corruption and protectionism; preventing and curbing money laundry and terrorism financing; anticorruption expertise of drafts of legal and normative regarding their correspondence to the state policy of preventing and combating corruption.
Necessity of creation
The creation of the Center has been determined first of all by the need to establish an efficient state structure that would combat economic crimes and corruption in the Republic of Moldova. Another, non less important argument for the creation of CCECC was to optimize the structure and the activity of control organs. The past experience has proved to be inefficient in the solution of multiple economic- financial crimes, one of the causes being the functions overlapping of various state institutions and the imperfection of their interaction.Every control body had its own competences and its specific hierarchical subordination. Simultaneously with the adoption of the Law on creation of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, in Moldova it has been created an institution provided with a complex system of authority in detection of economic crimes, beginning with collection and documentation of information, performance of control, initiation of criminal investigations, criminal pursuit and ending with presentation of the dossiers to the Prosecution authorities for the further examination in judiciary instances. The Center has been created in the result of fusion of the Department of Financial Control and Inspection of the Ministry of Finance, Anti-Corruption Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption and Financial-Economic Police Department of the General Police Inspection under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Financial Guard previously subordinated to the Principal State Tax Service.
Beginning with 6th June 2002 in the Republic of Moldova has been established an authority for the protection of the principles of the rule of law specialized in the combating of financial-economic and fiscal crimes and corruption - the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption. The legal framework of the Center is the Law on the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 6th June 2002, as well as other normative acts, including the international treaties to which the Republic of Moldova is a party.
Creation of an authority specialized in combating corruption and economic crimes has been determined by the international and European standards that impose the need for the existence of such specialized anti-corruption authorities.
Taking into consideration the fact that corruption as a social phenomenon is a complex process, the combating actions are also a complex process. Being under the risk of intensification of corruption at national and international levels, many states havedecided to adopt Strategies for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption.
In this way, the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption is an imperative requirement of the time. The activity of this authority consists of the prevention, detection, investigation, removal of economic, financial and tax violations; combating
corruption and protectionism; combating the legalization of property and laundering of illegally obtained money, performance of anti-corruption expertise of legal drafts and governmental normative acts for their compliance with the state policy in the field of
prevention and combating of corruption.
First steps...
Initially, pursuant to the staffing scheme adopted on 29th March 2002, the first directors of the Center were appointed:
- Mr. Alexei Roibu, director of CCECC;
- Mr. Valentin Mejinschi, deputy director, chief of the Department of operative investigations and objective documentary control;
- Mr. Anatolie Donciu, deputy director, chief of the Department of Criminal Pursuit;
- Mr. Ghenadie Munteanu, deputy director, chief of the Inspection and Control Department;
- Mr. Mircea Grigorev, deputy director, chief of the Department for Administrative Issues.
Beginning with 01.07.2002, after the publication of the Law of the Republic of Moldova on the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption no.1104-XV of 06.06.2002 in the Official Monitor, started the staffing of the Center by transfer of personnel from the Department for Financial Control under the Ministry of Finance, Anti-Corruption Section of the Department for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption, Economic and Financial Police Direction of the General Police Inspection under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of the Financial Guard under the Principal State Fiscal Inspection.
On 13.12.2002 the Center was reorganized and a new staffing scheme, according to which the territorial subdivisions of the institution were set up in the cities of Chisinau, Balti, Edinet, Soroca, Ungheni, Orhei, Hincesti, Causeni, Cahul and Comrat.
This structure was maintained until 13th May 2004, when the Center was reorganized and some of its subdivisions were reduced, in result 8 general territorial units were reduced. So,out of the 9 territorial subdivisions only two remained: General Territorial Direction of Balti and General Territorial Direction of Cahul.
Regardless of the five years of operations since 2002, the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption is now only at the beginning of its way. The five years of activity have clearly demonstrated the significant role of the Center in the consolidation of state organization and national security, especially in the economic and social sectors, as well as its exceptional capacities to combat corruption in the Republic of Moldova. These qualities are confirmed by internal and external partnership concluded within a quite short period since the foundation.
The importance of anti-corruption movement is reflected by:
- humanitarian aspect, as corruption obstructs and distorts the development;
- democratic aspect, as corruption is a serious obstacle for the establishment of democracy;
- ethic aspect, as the corruption impedes to the integral development of society;
- practical aspect, as corruption undermines the market relations and deprives the society from the potential benefits.
The anti-corruption struggle will result in success only if it penetrates into as many domains as possible, especially the social, economic, political and other spheres. One should not forget that the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy has been appreciated by the European Union as one of the priorities for integration and this fact means that integration into the EU is one of the perspective prerogatives of our country.
Taking into consideration the role, dimensions and the action area itself, the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption fully honors its responsibility assumed at the stage of economic transition of the entire society.
Operating with such values as legality, opportunity, credibility by integrity, professionalism and communication, the Center has demonstrated its capacity of continuous improvement and has made many significant advances towards the status of a prominent institution in the country’s system of law enforcement authorities.
In everything it does the CCECC officers are guided by a highly performing management, continuous professional training and exercise their duties at the highest possible level – all these being confirmed by the achievements made on national and international arena.
Taking into consideration the national tendency conform to a series of international initiatives, the Center permanently adjusts itself to the new performance standards in order to assure a harmonious and efficient activity. These efficiency objectives are established in compliance with the national and international anti-corruption programs. In this manner, in the implementation of the Preliminary Program „Millennium Challenges” and Central Public Authority Reform Strategy in the Republic of Moldova, the Center has designed a new organizational structure allowing to delimit its activity into two major spheres: anticorruption and anti-fraud without any dispersion and overlapping responsibilities: the repressive segment of social control and the consensual and multi-sector preventionpractices.
Actually, the efforts of the Center oriented towards the performance of the mission of prevention, combating and eradication of corruption, economic crimes and money laundering are fitting well to the over 10 perspective programs, including the National Strategy for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption financially supported by the European Commission, Swiss Cooperation and Development Agency and by the Council of Europe under the MOLICO Project.
The implementation of these strategic programs will require the installation of an adequate legal framework for the prevention and combating of corruption, money laundering and financing of terrorism, for the formation of public intolerance towards the phenomenon of corruption, towards the raising of credibility of the authorities involved in the combating of corruption and consolidation of social control upon it – all these being real mechanisms of collaboration between the state, the civil society and mass-media aimed at the eradication of these social scourges.
