Warrant of arrest for Moldovan town mayor extended by another 30 days

Chisinau, 19 September /MOLDPRES/ - The Buiucani district court of Chisinau today extended the warrant of home arrest for Orhei town mayor Ilan Shor by another 30 days.

The Orhei mayor was present at the court session of the Buiucani court.

The case prosecutor, Andrei Baiesu, has said that “there are many risks motivating the home arrest. Other petitions were filed on behalf of the defence; they are to be considered at the next session, due on 6 October starting from 10:00.”   

For his part, the lawyer of Ilan Shor, Denis Ulanov, said the court’s ruling would be groundless. “The same arguments were presented, alleging that Shor might influence the witnesses, could leave the country or destroy some evidence in one way or another. The other new data and information were presented. The today’s decision will be appealed at the Court of Appeal,” Ulanov said.

At the court session, more persons protested outside the Buiucani court, demanding the release of the Orhei mayor.

Ilan Shor was detained by anticorruption officers in a new criminal file on 22 June 2016. The Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal file against Shor back in December 2014. The Orhei mayor is blamed with having got, by fraud, over five billion lei from Banca de Economii (Savings Bank), which he would have laundered through offshore companies, a sum confirmed also in the report of the Kroll international company. The suspect’s lawyers rejected the charges brought by prosecutors, noting that Shor pleads not guilty.      

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office completed the prosecution and submitted to court the file opened against Ilan Shor. He runs the risk of being sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment.

(Reporter A. Plitoc, editor L. Alcaza)