Police have conducted searches across Romania in a possible fraud case linked to counterfeit face masks which are mandatory in all public places as a measure to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Police said they carried out 10 searches on Monday morning in Bucharest, in the Brasov, a region in central Romania, in Bihor and Timis, in western Romania, and Maramures in northwest Romania.
The case centers on an unamed hospital treating patients with SARS-CoV-2 which sold face masks from a company that is suspected “at a global level” of making counterfeit masks, police said in a statement.
Police said they would issue six warrants for suspects they wanted to question to clarify the situation.
Police officers from the Service for Intervention and Special Action and specialists of the National Criminalist Institute took part in Monday’s operation which began predawn.
County police from Bihor, Brasov, Maramures and Timis also participated.
There were no further details immediately available.
Protective face masks have been mandatory in all public places in Romania for several months, a measure implemented to slow the spread of Covid-19.
In November, major retailers_ supermarket chains and pharmacies_ were fined almost 600,000 euros after authorities found 33 million face masks didn’t meet safety standards.
