The house arrest warrant for the Șor party deputy Marina Tauber, targeted in two criminal cases filed on “knowingly accepting party financing from an organized criminal group” and “falsifying the report on the party’s financial management”, has been extended for another 20 days. The information was confirmed to ZdG by the press service of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA).

The decision was taken on Wednesday, November 23, by the magistrates of the Chisinau Court, Ciocana seat, who partially admitted the prosecutors’ request regarding the political party’s vice-president.

“Today’s decision was an expected one, although I hoped that the judges would take into account the law and make a professional decision. It is clear that there is a lot of pressure on the prosecution and the courts. They are very afraid that I will participate in the protests and mobilize more people. I promise Maia Sandu and PAS that they will answer criminally for every tear I and my close people shed. Together with her pocket prosecutors, she will understand what 124 days spent in detention means,” Marina Tauber said, according to a party statement.

The Chisinau Court of Appeals on 25 October 2022 overturned the decision of the Chisinau Court of 18 October placing Marina Tauber under judicial control, and ordered her return to house arrest for 30 days.

In July 2022, anti-corruption prosecutors, together with officers of the National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA), carried out several raids in the criminal case concerning the illegal financing of the “Sor” political party. At the time, the CNA announced that in the first half of this year, the “Shor” political party had made payments of 600,000 euros, while reported expenditure was just over 228,000 lei.

According to the evidence on file, it was found that the party had knowingly accepted money of dubious origin from a “criminal group”, which was used for party purposes, such as fees for artists, salaries for members and the organisation of protests. According to the CNA, the money of the “criminal group” arrived in Moldova in the form of transfers and conversions, including in cryptocurrency, and various financing channels such as Dubai, Vienna and Monaco were used to disguise the origin of the funds.

On 23 July, Marina Tauber was remanded in custody for 30 days in Prison No. 13 in the capital. On 16 August, the magistrates extended the arrest warrant for Marina Tauber for another 20 days in penitentiary no. 13. She was subsequently placed under house arrest and the measure was extended several times.

Marina Tauber is the vice-president of the “Sor” party. Earlier, ZdG wrote that Tauber served as mayor of Jora de Mijloc for almost a year before entering the legislature. Until 2016, before entering politics, she was the president of the Moldovan Tennis Federation for six years. Ilan Shor’s former schoolmate is listed in both Kroll reports on the theft of the billion from the three banks. According to the report, Tauber, along with other Unibank shareholders, allegedly acted in concert to benefit Ilan Shor.

In 2020, Tauber’s wealth was the pretext for two complaints to the ANI and the PG. At the time, the author of the petition, former socialist MP Marina Radvan, said that the data in Marina Tauber’s asset declarations raised doubts.