Former mayor of central Moldova village sentenced to seven years in prison for fatal accident, leaving scene

The former mayor of the Bolduresti village, central Nisporeni district, Nicanor Ciochina, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of causing the death of a 14-year-old teenager in a traffic accident and leaving the scene.

The sentence was today handed down by judges of the Chisinau Court, Buiucani office, following an examination of the evidence presented in the case.

According to the court’s findings, in 2023, the defendant fatally struck a 14-year-old minor and then left the scene without providing assistance to the victim and without notifying the competent authorities.

Subsequently, based on the evidence examined in court, the former mayor allegedly tried to stage another traffic accident, in order to avoid criminal liability for his actions.

The court took into account the seriousness of the offenses, the circumstances of the accident, and the defendant’s conduct afterward, and imposed a custodial sentence of seven years.

The Chisinau Court also sentenced a second defendant to six months in prison for assisting the former mayor, who fled the scene, in creating the false impression that his car had not been involved in the accident. He mounted the license plate from the vehicle that had fatally hit the teenager onto another car of the same model. Under the sentence, this second defendant received two years of imprisonment, with partial suspension of the sentence, so that only six months are to be served in prison. In the meantime, he has been declared wanted, given that the extension of the arrest, requested by prosecutors, was rejected by the investigating judge.

The decision issued by the Chisinau Court, Buiucani office, is not final and may be appealed to a higher court within the time limit provided by law.

The former mayor is also being held in pre-trial detention in a separate criminal case on charges of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment.

The case has had a strong public impact, given the defendant’s former position and the severity of the consequences.