UPDATE: Three of the four guarantors for the release of former MP Andronachi are Democratic Party exponents and were the party’s candidates in the 2019 local elections and the early parliamentary elections in 2010, according to TV8 sources.

They are the mayor of the village of Găvănoasa Vadim Ivanov, the mayor of the village of Zîrnești Nicolae Beju and the former headmistress of the “Mihai Eminescu” High School in Cahul Ala Gaidar.

The fourth person who deposited a guarantee for Vladimir Andronachi is the abbot of the Monastery of the Assumption of the Mother of God in the village of Căpriana, district of Strășeni – Archimandrite Filaret, TV8 reports.

Original news:

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) confirms the information published by ZdG about guarantees that allowed Vladimir Andronachi’s release from house arrest. The PA came on Friday, August 11, with a press release announcing that the defense submitted four written requests for guarantors – from two mayors of the Cahul district, an elderly person holding the order “Gloria Muncii” as well as a representative of a religious cult. However, the institution did not say who the civil servants and the other two people were.

The PA representatives mention that 4 payment orders in the total amount of 22 thousand lei, deposited to the court account, were also attached.

According to the PA, at the court hearing held on August 8 by the defense on behalf of Vladimir Andronachi a request was made to replace the preventive measure from house arrest to personal guarantee.

Thus, by the court applying the preventive measure – personal guarantee – to the defendant, “the court put the onus on the guarantors to ensure the defendant’s active conduct in the criminal proceedings, including respecting public order and presenting himself when summoned by the court,” the PA notes.

“Subsequently, due to the nature of the preventive measure applied, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in the criminal proceedings in question is not entitled nor obliged to grant and/or monitor the defendant’s movements outside the territory of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office reiterates that, in view of the legal provisions, it is unable to challenge the court’s decision,” the statement reads.

According to Article 179 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, (1) the personal guarantee consists of a written undertaking that trustworthy persons undertake to guarantee, by their authority and the amount of money deposited, the respective conduct of the suspect, accused or defendant, including the respect of public order and his presentation when summoned by the prosecuting authority or the court, as well as the fulfilment of other procedural obligations. The number of guarantors may not be less than 2 and more than 5.

• The personal guarantee, as a preventive measure, shall be admitted only at the written request of the guarantors and with the consent of the person against whom the guarantee is given.
• Upon presentation of the guarantee in writing, each guarantor shall simultaneously deposit in the deposit account of the public prosecutor’s office or the court a sum of money from 50 to 300 conventional units.

The decision was issued by Judge Gheorghe Balan, who examines in the first instance the cases involving Vladimir Andronachi.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that the decision of the Buiucani Court of Chisinau of 11 August 2023 rejected the request of the state prosecutor to extend the preventive measure “house arrest” against the defendant Vladimir Andronachi and granted the request of the defence to replace the preventive measure from house arrest to personal guarantee.

Former Democratic MP Vladimir Andronachi, who was expelled in November 2022 by the Ukrainian authorities, is included in the criminal cases “bank fraud” and “metalferos”, which are under the management of the PA and the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS).

According to anti-corruption prosecutor Octavian Iachimovschi, in the “bank fraud” case, Andronachi is charged with the offences of “swindling in particularly large proportions in the interest of a criminal organisation”, as well as “money laundering in particularly large proportions, also in the interest of a criminal organisation”.

In the “Metalferos” case, Andronachi is charged with “setting up and directing a criminal organisation”, fraud on a particularly large scale and money laundering.