Petru Gontea, former head of General Housing and Communal Development Department, of Chisinau City Hall, was sentenced by Chisinau Court to 7 years, wrote crimemoldova.com.

Gontea was found guilty of giving away a real estate from the historic district of the city to former deputy director of Department of Customs Control, Sava Maimescu. The former official pleads not guilty and has appealed the decision taken by Chisinau Court.

The case was initiated by Anticorruption prosecutors, who claim that the crime took place in 2006, when Petru Gontea was head of Municipal Enterprise for Housing Management No. 13 in Chisinau.

Despite Chisinau Municipal Council having decided in 2001 for the real estate, located Lazo 10 street, to be given to SRL Avent, Petru Gontea assisted spouses Sava and Elena Maimescu to become the building's owners, as well as of the land that was given to the economic agent. For them, the spouses have paid nearly 19 000 lei.

Petru Gontea claimed that a civil procedure was initiated by SRL Avent, afterward the case having turned on him.

According to the documents, the real estate has a surface of 270 square meters, while on October 13, 2017, was under seizure. At the same time, part of the real estate, located on Serghei Lazo 12, is owned since 2006 by footballer Radu Rebeja.

The real estate is old and can no longer be lived in, but the land has worth. In the Capital, such a building costs around 20 000 Euro.