A multinational operation by Interpol and the FBI thwarted attempts in Moldova to sabotage one of the international police agency's key tools, the Red warning system, officials said Tuesday. Four people were arrested in the eastern European country.
Agence France-Presse reports that all four were employees of the Ministry of the Interior in Moldova.
The joint agency, which also involved cooperation with French and British authorities, uncovered an international criminal organization with links to people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus suspected of cybercrime, Moldova's anti-corruption chief said.
The suspects “paid middlemen and public figures in Moldova to inform wanted criminals of (their) red notice status,” anti-corruption chief Veronica Dragalin told reporters.
The warning marks people considered fugitives for law enforcement worldwide and is one of Interpol's most important tools. The investigation led to the arrest of four people for 72 hours on suspicion of interfering with warnings, Dragalin said.
The scheme intended for people subject to red notices to “obtain asylum or refugee status” in Moldova and other countries “with the aim of blocking and suppressing” the notices by bribing public officials, it added.
The sums of money involved, he said, amount to several million dollars.
Security forces seized digital devices, documents and other items for analysis, French financial crimes prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert said in a statement.
Interpol said the operation by the international police agency, based in Lyon, France, followed the detection of attempts to “block and delete” the notices, which flag people considered fugitives from the police. order throughout the world.
Moldova opened an investigation on April 2, after receiving information from France's National Financial Prosecutor, and later requested the assistance of the FBI.
“We are committed to fighting high-level corruption in all its forms, especially those schemes that jeopardize criminal investigations around the world,” Dragalin said.
An Interpol statement said the agency has taken measures to prevent “misuse of its systems”.
“Our robust monitoring systems identified suspicious activity,” Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said. “We took immediate action, including reporting the issue to law enforcement authorities in our host country, France.”
Stock highlighted the large number of individuals subject to Red Alerts (more than 70,000 people), but did not detail the sabotage attempt.
When contacted by The Associated Press, Interpol said that because it was a Moldovan-French investigation, it would not be appropriate for the agency to delve into an ongoing investigation.
“60 Minutes” reported Earlier this year, a number of Interpol's 196 member countries had abused red notices, using trumped-up charges to try to track down, arrest and extradite people they want to get their hands on, such as political dissidents or innocent people who have angry powerful officials. While each Red Notice is checked to ensure it does not breach rules prohibiting the use of Interpol for political, religious or racial persecution, the check is not foolproof.
AFP contributed to this report.
