Prosecutors demand 6.5 years of imprisonment for former Moldovan lawmaker

Chisinau, 15 March /MOLDPRES/ - Prosecutors today demanded six years and a half of imprisonment for the former MP, Chiril Lucinschi, suspected of laundering of particularly large sums of money in the file on bank frauds.  

Following the court session, the case prosecutor, Eugen Rusnac, said that ”besides the punishment with imprisonment, Chiril Lucinschi runs the risk of paying a fine worth 27,500 lei for false testimony.”    

The prosecution also demanded that Lucinschi could not hold public offices during four years. Also, prosecutors asked to sequestrate more assets which belong to the former MP and returning the damage caused to banks.   

“Proceeding from the evidence unveiled today, I expect of being declared not guilty. The file is fabricated, and from the very beginning, it had not any offences at its basis. For the time being, I cannot give my opinion on the punishment demanded by prosecutors, as no offence has been committed,” the former MP said.   

The lawyer of Lucinschi, Corina Stratan, said that the case prosecutor would not have set forth any evidence proving the guilt of the former lawmaker. “Today, I presented evidence which invert the charges brought to Mr. Lucinschi. They did not show to the charges unveiled what offences the money, which Lucinschi would have laundered, came from. The correct ruling is that the court declares my client non guilty,” Stratan said.   

Chiril Lucinschi was detained in May 2017. According to the state prosecutors, the former MP, along with three representatives of an economic agent, are suspected of laundering of particularly large sums of money.  

Lucinschi would have committed the offence through the companies Toast Delux SRL (Ltd) and IPA International Project Agency, whose effective manager and beneficiary is just himself. The two companies would have benefited from money coming from bad loans purloined from three Moldovan banks involved in the bank fraud: Banca de Economii (Savings Bank), Banca Sociala (Social Bank) and Unibank. IPA International Project would have received 440,000 dollars and Toast Delux SRL – five million lei. Subsequently, the sums of money would have been converted and transferred to an offshore through a group of companies.     

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor M. Jantovan)