Portugal Colonial - Moldova ex-minister charged in Interpol corruption case

French prosecutors say they suspect a multinational group of conspirators paid millions of dollars to public officials to sabotage Interpol red notices issued against selected suspects.

Vitalie Pirlog, who chaired the commission controlling Interpol's files, was arrested on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by France.

He was extradited to France on Friday on charges including organised fraud and evading arrest, said the source, confirming a report in the French daily, Le Monde.

Another source close to the case said Pirlog was suspected of having helped suspects get asylum-seeker status in Moldova so as to force the suspension of their red notices. Red notices are international alerts for suspected criminals.

Pirlog's lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, told AFP the French arrest warrant was "incomprehensible" as his client had given the French financial prosecutors his address in the UAE.

He had been waiting to be summoned for questioning as provided for by international conventions, he added.

"Mr Pirlog is certainly not someone who wanted to evade justice -- quite the contrary," said Marsigny.

Interpol said that after it had detected an attempt to "block and delete red notices" in a small number of cases, it had reported the matter to the authorities in France.

The French authorities in early 2025 opened an investigation into suspected corruption within Interpol. The international law enforcement agency's headquarters are based in Lyon, southeast France.

French financial prosecutor Jean-Francois Bohnert said his team suspected a group of people of different nationalities had bribed certain officials to block and delete red notices targeting certain fugitives.

The sums involved could run to several million dollars, he added.

A.S.Diogo--PC