Anti-corruption prosecutor Octavian Iachimovschi was selected on Thursday, February 22, by the Superior Council of Prosecutors (SCP) for the position of Attorney General. He is to undergo evaluation by the Vetting Commission, and if he passes the assessment of financial and ethical integrity, he will be appointed to the position.

ZdG has analyzed his wealth declaration, professional activity, and integrity and presents the most important information about the individual aspiring to lead the General Prosecutor’s Office.

Octavian Iachimovschi began his career at the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) in June 2011. He served as the interim deputy head of PA, but in December 2019, the then-Attorney General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, revoked his appointment order, citing the need to focus on the “Bank Fraud” case. In September 2022, he sent a request to the then-interim Attorney General, Dumitru Robu, seeking his withdrawal and the appointment of a new leader for the criminal investigation group in the “Bank Fraud” case. From March 2023, Iachimovschi returned to the position of interim deputy head of PA, proposed by the interim Attorney General Ion Munteanu. In 2022, Iachimovschi ran for the position of PA head, ranking second with 53.01 points, while Veronica Dragalin scored 72.15 points, securing the position.

In 2020, four disciplinary procedures were initiated against Prosecutor Iachimovschi for alleged disciplinary violations committed during the exercise of duties in criminal investigations, and one disciplinary procedure for alleged violations of ethical norms that affected the honor and prestige of the Prosecutor’s Office. The cases were consolidated into a single procedure, which was later terminated.

Iachimovschi is listed as the founder of the Association of Prosecutors for Order and Justice, established in September 2019, with prosecutors Dumitru Obadă and Iuri Lealin as co-founders. According to the statute, the association was created “to jointly achieve goals aimed at fostering constructive interinstitutional dialogue, as well as with civil society, contributing to the establishment of the Rule of Law in the triumph of justice and equity.”

Prosecutor: ‘There were few people to work with to move things forward’

Prosecutor Octavian Iachimovschi claims that he asked Dumitru Robu for additional staff to investigate the “Bank Fraud” case.

“According to the law, prosecutors cannot drop a file. The request sounds like this: the working group is incapacitated, there are few prosecutors, prosecution officers and no prosecutor can lead such a group. There were few people to work with to move things forward. The motion actually called for the team to be replaced,” Iachimovschi recalls.

“In four proceedings I was accused of having delayed the prosecution of cases that had long been closed and in which there were no suspects or injured parties. The fifth disciplinary procedure concerned a case in which hearings were closed. The proceedings were merged and closed, including on the grounds that the Inspectorate of Public Prosecutions did not present all the evidence to the Disciplinary Board or the SCP,” prosecutor Octavian Iachimovschi told ZdG.

House, apartment and car – purchased in the last 3 years

The Iachimovschi family lives in a single-storey house in Budești commune, mun. Chisinau. The 100-square-metre property was purchased in 2020 by mortgage and is said to be worth just over 1 million lei, according to the statement of assets and personal information submitted by the prosecutor. A year before purchasing the house, the state prosecutor sold an apartment with an area of 32.9 square meters, which he had owned since 2010. In the asset declarations filed by him, the apartment was worth 145.6 thousand lei, but he sold it for 16 500 euros or the equivalent of 318 thousand lei. That’s more than twice the price.

Last year, the Iachimovschi family bought a 50-square-metre apartment in the Ciocana district of the capital. The apartment is rented out, the prosecutor indicates that in the first three months of 2023 they earned an income of 17.6 thousand lei.

Under movable assets, the prosecutor declares a Honda Civic car manufactured in 2009 and purchased in 2018 for 87.7 thousand lei and a Renault Megane Scenic manufactured in 2014 and purchased in 2021 for 6.3 thousand euros or the equivalent of 120 thousand lei. The market value of the Renault Megane Scenic is, according to the prosecutor, 8,000 euros or the equivalent of 153 thousand lei, the reason for the difference being “the costs of customs clearance, registration and transportation of the car to Moldova”.

“The house was purchased through the “First Home” program. I have 4 children and basically I did not participate in the program as a civil servant, but as a family with 4 children, where the compensation is 100%. After purchasing the house, I sold the apartment with insufficient space for 6 people and bought another apartment, which I rented. The car purchased in 2021 is from savings, child allowance and also from the loan taken by the wife. If you are to calculate, the monthly family income in 2019-2022 was around 54 thousand lei. It’s harder for me now, but back then it was ok,” said prosecutor Iachimovschi.

Debts of 1 million lei

In 2022, Octavian Iachimovschi collected from the PA an annual salary of about 353 thousand lei or about 29 thousand lei monthly, and his wife reported in 2022 a salary of 104 thousand lei from the State Tax Service. From the National Institute of Justice, the prosecutor had in 2022 a salary of almost 83 thousand lei, and the Center for Legal Resources paid him 74 thousand lei for scientific and research work.

Octavian Iachimovschi reports debts of 890 thousand lei, after taking out a bank loan in 2020 with an interest rate of 7.5%, due in 2030, and his wife, Viorica, has debts of 140 thousand lei, after taking out a bank loan in 2021, due in 2026. Viorica Iachimovschi, the prosecutor’s wife, is listed as the founder and administrator of the company “Four travels tour” SRL, founded in November 2022. The company operates a travel agency. In 2013-2015, the prosecutor received donations from his mother in the amount of 27.4 thousand euros.