The hearing in Ilan Shor’s criminal case of fraud and money laundering pending at the Chisinau Court of Appeals has been postponed again, the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office announced on Wednesday, January 18.

During the hearing, Ilan Shor’s lawyers asked the court to admit two lawyers from the United Kingdom to the trial and postpone the hearing for two months, according to the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.

The prosecutors requested the dismissal of the applications, explaining that according to the law, “lawyers from another state cannot represent the interests of natural or legal persons in court and in dealings with other public authorities except in international commercial arbitration. If the interests of the client so require, and at the client’s request, the lawyer from another state may assist the lawyer from Moldova”.

About the limits of activity, foreign lawyers were warned in December 2022 in a decision issued by the Council of the Union of Lawyers, prosecutors’ representatives announce.

The two lawyers from the United Kingdom did not submit to the prosecution body “the document confirming that they are allowed to practice as a lawyer under the legislation of the Republic of Moldova” as required by the Criminal Procedure Code, and such a power of attorney was not issued by the Council of the Union of Lawyers.

However, by protocol order, the court admitted the foreign lawyers to the trial and gave them until 13.02.2023 to acquaint themselves with the materials of the criminal case.

The next court hearings will be held on 13 and 20 February 2023.

Shor’s case is in the process of examination at the Court of Appeal and has been postponed several times by his lawyers. In the “bank fraud” case, Shor is charged on 9 counts.

In a response provided to ZdG in June 2022 by the PA, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that investigations were ordered to search for Ilan Shor in the “bank fraud” criminal case pending before the CA both in Moldova and abroad. At the same time, extradition procedures have been initiated for him in the criminal case in question, and all the necessary documents have been forwarded by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova to the competent Israeli authorities.