It was a joint operation by officers from the National Inspectorate of Investigations (INI) Organized Crime Directorate, the police and the prosecutor’s office, with the support of the Romanian authorities.
Under the cover of a call center
The investigation began in July 2025 after authorities identified several people duped by promises of quick and substantial profits from online investments.
Members of the group convinced victims to install remote access apps on their phones, gaining full control of the devices. They then created accounts on cryptocurrency trading platforms and convinced victims to transfer money from their cards or even take out loans from microfinance companies.
As a result of investigative measures, a call center operating in Chisinau and carrying out fraudulent activities under the guise of online investments was identified. The structure of the group included operators, administrators, managers and coordinators, each of whom had clearly defined roles in the criminal scheme. The group included citizens of the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Turkey and Romania.
During searches conducted in late 2025, authorities seized accounting documents, cell phones, laptops, cash in foreign currency, lease agreements, bank cards, cryptocurrency storage devices, luxury cars, and related IT equipment.
The investigation revealed that members of the group used e-wallets and cryptocurrencies to conceal illegally obtained financial transactions by obfuscating the money trail through multiple conversions between different cryptocurrencies and successive transfers between digital wallets.
Joint investigation
In this context, information was exchanged through Europol in order to identify the victims and all members of the criminal group. The necessary evidence was collected, which led to the establishment of a joint investigation team under the auspices of EUROJUST between the Republic of Moldova and Romania.
As part of the investigation, the Agency for the Recovery of Criminal Assets of Moldova (ARBI) identified assets and bank accounts worth more than 9 million lei to be confiscated.
On February 17, 2026, simultaneous searches were conducted at four homes of the call center organizers in Moldova and at the home of a Ukrainian citizen involved in money laundering in Romania. Three luxury cars, bank cards, phones, computers, jewelry and cash worth 9,000 euros, 12,000 dollars and 18,000 lei were seized.
Of the three main suspects, two have been detained and one is wanted. A total of 26 people are involved in the case, which will be brought to court after the criminal investigation is completed.
Those involved in the case face 8 to 15 years in prison.
