Interpol Under Spotlight In Suspected Asylum-for-Sale Scam

On a humid June morning in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau, a team of state anti-corruption prosecutors set off from their headquarters on the northern fringe of the city for the short drive to Valea Morilor, a leafy neighborhood popular with the country’s elite. Their target was a white-walled villa flanked by cypress trees that belonged to Vitalie Pirlog, Moldova’s former justice minister, who up until early 2022 had been chairman of the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files (CCF).

Contrary to the portrayals of spy thrillers, Interpol is not a police force. Rather, it acts like a wire service for global law enforcement, gathering information and disseminating Red Notices — non-public alerts that call on the organization’s 196 member states to arrest suspected criminals should they enter their borders. From his powerful perch on the CCF, Pirlog and his colleagues were able to decide which Red Notices should stand, and which should be lifted.

When prosecutors pulled up to the villa that day, they learned Pirlog was more than 3,000 miles away, at his second residence in Dubai. They conducted a search anyway, taking documents and electronic files as his lawyer looked on. Similar scenes were playing out across the city. Nearly the entire anti-corruption bureau, more than 50 prosecutors and officials, raided the homes of a local lawyer and the head of Moldova’s Immigration Protectorate. The chief of the National Central Crime Bureau was detained in his office for questioning.

Pirlog and the other men were suspected by Moldovan prosecutors of leading an international bribery ring that accepted millions of dollars in exchange for removing the Red Notices of 26 individuals wanted for offenses including financial crime and drug trafficking.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-12-23/moldova-interpol-under-spotlight-over-suspected-red-notice-scam?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczNTAwMjM1MSwiZXhwIjoxNzM1NjA3MTUxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTT1lWUzJUMEcxS1cwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNjgyQTUwQzJCRDM0MTFCQTgwQjEwQjZEQjczQzM1MSJ9.5M7FxQmW1hiKLK9NWKWbvOFEcNl7D-xTKXI5Q3cEh6E