Criminal case against former Moldovan PM partially sent to court

Chisinau, 23 December /MOLDPRES/-National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA) prosecutor Adriana Betisor during a news conference today said a part of the criminal case against former Prime Minister Vlad Filat had been sent to court.

According to magistrates, evidence resulted from the expertise allows prosecutors to send a part of the criminal case against the former prime minister to court.

Betisor noted that Filat had received almost 800 million lei, of which 391 million lei had been transferred, while the other 398 million lei had been transmitted directly to him. However, experts could not find the money upon the accused.

The prosecutor said “Vlad Filat admitted that businessman Ilan Shor had offered his services to him, however, he noted that he had considered them as gifts”.

“Filat received the money through different ways, including through transfer and via his shadow-run companies. The former prime minister might have also received aviation services worth 1.5 million lei and hotel services worth 1.8 million lei from Ilan Shor,” Betisor noted.

“If the court finds him guilty, Vlad Filat shall be charged with passive bribery and face a sentence from 7 to 15 years of prison and a fine from 8,000 to 10,000 conventional units, with deprivation of the right to be appointed for certain positions. The suspect might also face from three to seven years of prisons or a fine from 4,000 to 6,000 conventional units for abuse of power,” Betisor said.  

Vlad Filat was arrested on 15 October based on an arrest warrant issued by the National Anti-Corruption Centre, after the parliament had decided to strip him of immunity.

The court from Chisinau’s Buiucani sector issued a 30-day preventive arrest warrant for Vlad Filat on 18 October, and extended it by 30 more days on 11 November and 10 December, until 14 December and 13 January 2016 respectively.

(Reporter A. Plitoc, Editor L. Alcaza)