Border police officers and prosecutors from the High Court Prosecutor’s Office are conducting a large-scale operation on Tuesday to dismantle a network specialized in the illegal obtaining of Romanian identity documents.
In total, 206 search warrants have been executed at the premises of public institutions and the homes of individuals, as specified by the Border Police.
According to official information, the investigation targets acts of bribery, giving and receiving bribes, computer fraud, falsification of official documents, and use of forged documents, committed by public officials from Botoșani County and other individuals involved in the network.
This is not the first investigation of this kind. Dozens of searches were conducted in Botoșani in November 2024.
At the center of the current case are suspicions regarding the issuance of Romanian identity documents based on unreal data, especially for citizens originating from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and other former Soviet republics.
The issued documents contained false information regarding residence, names, surnames, date and place of birth, with the ultimate goal of obtaining Romanian citizenship, residence, or legal domicile in Romania.
Investigations show that, between 2023-2024, approximately 7,000 individuals fictitiously established their residence within a population registry service, with the help of officials who allegedly prepared false occupancy declarations, sometimes without the owners of the respective properties even being informed or present during the validation process.
The falsified documents - including Romanian citizenship certificates - were later entered into the National Registry of Persons, thus giving the appearance of legality to fraudulently obtained identities.
The operation was carried out with the support of the Technical Service within the High Court Prosecutor's Office and the Mobile Gendarmerie Group from Bacău.