The National Integrity Authority (ANI) took note following an investigation by the Center for Investigative Journalism, published on the Anticoruptie.md portal, which shows that every fifth judge in the Republic of Moldova reported in the statement on property for last year donations from parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters or other close relatives. Experts believe that Moldovan officials often report donations to mask income whose origin they cannot prove.

Maria Dastic, press officer of ANI informed us that the President of the ANI Rodica Antoci signed an ex officio notification in the case of donations reported by judges. "ANI analyzed the journalistic material based on which the president of ANI signed an ex officio notification. Following the order of the leadership of April 2021, in the e-integrity system have already been sent for verification over 400 statements on property and personal interests for 2020, of judges, and this notification will be included as well. We will come up with details ", Maria Dastic said for the Anticoruptie.md portal.

The Anticoruptie.md portal wrote in a journalistic investigation that, every year, dozens of judges from the Republic of Moldova report that they have accepted gifts. The year 2020 is not an exception. Every fifth judge in the Republic of Moldova reported in the statement on property for last year that he received donations from parents, in-laws, brothers, sisters or other close relatives. No less than 84 magistrates out of over 400 who work in the courts today indicated in the documents presented to the National Integrity Authority that they received gifts last year, either money, cars or real estate.

Experts believe that Moldovan officials frequently report donations to mask income whose origin they cannot prove.

"Usually, donations from friends, relatives or other close people are accepted, who could always confirm that they made such donations. It is a tool widely used by our civil servants. I assume that some of the donations reported by the judges are real, but we certainly have fictitious donations, when the magistrates simply wanted to justify certain assets or the value of the assets which they own", said Galina Bostan, president of the Centre for Analysis and Prevention of Corruption.

According to her, the efforts of the National Integrity Authority, the institution empowered to verify the property of officials, to identify magistrates whose assets have a value that exceeds the acquired income, are rather anemic.