Arrest warrant on Moldovan businessman extended by 30 days more

Chisinau, 1 September /MOLDPRES/- Chisinau-based Buiucani court today extended the mandate of remand on businessman Veaceslav Platon by 30 days more.

Platon’s lawyer Ana Ursachi said that the decision would be appealed to the Court of Appeal. “So far, defenders were not allowed to read materials on the case. Platon’s extradition was carried out in the absence of a final decision, which should belong to the Kiev-based Court of Appeal. At the same time, Platon’s Ukrainian citizenship was not pulled out. His lawyer Ilia Novicov said that a case on false in Platon’s documents did not exist. At the same time, the law enforcement bodies from Ukraine failed to initiate and completed a verification procedure for or against the existence of passport on Covaliov name,” Ursachi said.

Businessman Veaceslav Platon arrested by Ukrainian authorities at a request of Moldovan prosecutors was extradited to Moldova on Monday. He is investigated for swindling and money laundering in especially large proportions, which caused prejudice to the Savings Bank (Banca de Economii) by over 800 million lei. The prosecutors concluded that the money obtained by fraud as credits had been transferred to accounts of more off-shore companies in order to disguise the illegal origin, and subsequently, used to settle some debts in the Moldovan banks. The suspect’s lawyers rejected the accusations, saying he pleads not guilty.   

   (Reporter A. Plitoc, editor A. Răileanu)