In 2019, the investigative journalists of the Ziarul de Gardă brought to the public attention issues related to the integrity and transparency of the civil servants, as well as social investigations, which highlight the problems of the society. Below is a list of the most read investigations on Ziarul de Gardă’s website in 2019.

1. The Unmasked Beggars

The most read investigation of 2019 with around 50,000 views, is The Unmasked Beggers. Ziarul de Garda reveals in this investigation how several beggars simulated serious health problems on Chișinău’s streets to attract the attention of the passers-by and gain money. 

Some of them were moving hard, using crutches or walking with crooked feet. Others ostentatiously displayed their false prostheses or even used wheelchairs although, in reality, they had no locomotor problems.

2. Criminal Maternity in Ialoveni

This investigation is for the third year in the top of the most read ZdG’s investigations. Published by ZdG in 2017, the investigation reveals the story of several children who were born at the Maternity Hospital in the Ialoveni town, whose parents believe that the doctors’ mistakes there would be the reason why their children, from the first moments of life, received a severe degree of disability. On the other side, doctors declared that problem births are happening all over the world and it would not be their fault.

3. All the President’s Men

Published at the end of 2019, this investigation reveals how people close to the presidential couple secured businesses and assets worth millions along with President Igor Dodon’s ascension to power. 

The investigation brought up discussions in the public space and it seems that dissatisfied President Dodon, who decided not to invite ZdG’s representatives to a so-called informal discussion organized by the Presidency with the journalists.

4. The Businessman Behind the Transaction of Over €7.8. Million (150 Million Lei) with a Building Attributed to Vladimir Plahotniuc

The investigation was published in 2017, but this year it came to the public’s attention after Iurii Luncașu, a businessman from the surroundings of Vladimir Plahotniuc, former leader of the Democratic Party and Ilan Shor, former mayor of the Orhei city, as well as a representative of the company that owns the so-called White House in Chișinău, was found shot in August 2019.

• Inside the Investigation into the Death of Businessman Iurii Luncașu

5. The Millionaires from the So-Called Technocratic Government in Moldova

Following the government’s investment led by Ion Chicu, Ziarul de Gardă wrote about the assets of the new cabinet. ZdG has published pictures with the duplex villa that Prime Minister Chicu shares with his brother-in-law and his sister, as well as with the luxurious building, built by the Minister of Internal Affairs during the time he was in public office.

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