Alexandr Nesterovschi, the defector MP detained for 72 hours by prosecutors and officers of the National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA), in the case concerning the illegal financing of political parties, participated in complicity with former fugitive MP Ilan Shor in the recruitment of a former MP to head a political party, allegedly pro-European, but which would implement Shor’s plans. The statements belong to the head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA), Veronica Dragalin, who came up with more details after MPs Irina Lozovan and Alexandr Nesterovschi were left without parliamentary immunity.

During the prosecution, the PA chief says, law enforcement officials documented how Nesterovschi passed a paper bag containing $50,000 in cash and 100,000 lei to a former MP with the aim of persuading him to create a political party to carry out Ilan Shor’s instructions.

According to Veronica Dragalin, Alexandr Nesterovschi accepted a salary of $5,000 a month from Ilan Shor in order to leave the Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BCS).

“(…) From the evidence gathered, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, together with the CNA and SIS, has documented that MP Alexandr Nesterovschi participated in complicity with Ilan Șor in the recruitment of a person to head a political party, which claims to be pro-European, but which is part of Ilan Șor’s plan.

Ilan Shor had direct discussions with the person who was recruited for this purpose, the person who denounced this from the beginning and cooperated with the prosecution. Ilan Șor explained that the party will be financed including by legal entities here in Moldova. For example, construction companies, as he explained, which will finance the party, but from the shadows this money will actually come from Ilan Shor, without anyone knowing about the fact that he is behind it (…).

During the criminal prosecution we documented how MP Nesterovschi sent a paper package with 50 thousand dollars in cash and 100 thousand lei to this former MP, with the aim of convincing this person to create a political party that would carry out Ilan Shor’s instructions (…). The evidence in the file indicated a reasonable suspicion that the deputy Nesterovschi accepted a sum of money from Ilan Șor and accepted a salary of 5000 dollars per month to leave the parliamentary faction of which he was a member, in order to form a new faction in Parliament, which requires five deputies and to act in the interest of Ilan Șor and the criminal group led by Ilan Șor, in his duties as a deputy (…).

(…) We are aware of these facts because we have witnesses who have testified and explained to us the specific discussions they had in Israel. We were able to intercept and record conversations between people through special applications, including WhatsApp and the “Bria” application. So, we determined that part of the scheme was that Ilan Shor, through other intermediaries gave mobile phones to people recruited into this group. These mobile phones included the “Bria” app and through which they can communicate directly with Ilan Shor and with each other, people who know each other,” the PA chief said at a press briefing.

Irina Lozovan and Alexandr Nesterovschi, deputies of the “Renaissance” party, affiliated to former fugitive MP Ilan Shor, whose parliamentary immunity was lifted, were detained on Thursday evening, 21 September, for 72 hours.

On Thursday, 21 September, Parliament agreed to waive the parliamentary immunity of MPs Irina Lozovan and Alexandr Nesterovschi with a view to their detention, arrest, search and referral for trial of criminal cases. The draft resolutions providing for this were voted on, after Parliament received five requests for the waiver of the MPs’ immunity signed by the acting Prosecutor General, Ion Munteanu.

According to Parliament, two of the requests received concern the waiver of parliamentary immunity for the arrest, detention, search and committal for trial of two criminal cases against Irina Lozovan, on the grounds that she has committed several acts provided for in the Criminal Code: knowingly accepting political party funding from an “organised criminal group”; money laundering committed by an “organised criminal group” on a particularly large scale.

According to information provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office, the “organized criminal group” led by former fugitive MP Ilan Shor initiated the illegal financing of the “Renaissance” political party. According to the Parliament, Irina Lozovan, even though she knew that the financial means were illegal, accepted the financing of the political party in order to consolidate it in the political arena of Moldova in the interest of the “organized criminal group”.

The other three requests received concern the waiver of parliamentary immunity with a view to the arrest, detention, search and committal for trial of two criminal cases against MP Alexandr Nesterovschi on the grounds that he had committed a number of offences under the Criminal Code: Passive bribery (the demand, acceptance and receipt, personally or through other persons, by a person in a position of public dignity of goods not due to him/her for himself/herself, in order to carry out actions in the exercise of his/her office); knowingly accepting the financing of a political party from an “organized criminal group”; illegal financing of political parties, initiative groups of electoral contestants or referendum participants in the normative manner, preparation of financing of a political party from sources prohibited by law, committed in large proportions.