Alexandru Rata, Straseni prosecutor, is poor as a church mouse, according to the statement of income and property, filed in early 2013. In reality, however, lives in a house worth millions, and his family drive luxury cars. A citizen who had a criminal record, managed by Straseni Prosecution, admits that, when the prosecutor was building his house, he gave him, to request, many building materials, and as a result, his criminal case was dismissed.

Alexandru Rata was predecessor, and successor at the head of prosecutors Straseni of the torque Prosecutors Eduard Masnic / Elena Neaga. By 2006, he led the Prosecution Straseni, returning to the forefront of the institution at the end of 2010, after the mandate of Masnic at Straseni and after four years spent at the Prosecutor General (PG). Sources from the PG state that, in 2006, prosecutor Rata left from Straseni, being relegated for some violations. Officially, however, the information could not be confirmed. We have sent an official letter to PG, which we have not yet been answered.

The house, built in two years

In November 2010, the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP), led by Iurie Garaba, designated as winner Alexandru Rata for the position of prosecutor of Straseni, in the detriment of other two prosecutors, Gheorghe Trifan and Dumitru Triboi. Rata’s desire to return to the Prosecutor Straseni seems more than justified. According to data from State Enterprise Cadastre, prosecutor owns a house of millions, located right at the entrance of this city, in an area called by locals “Petrovka 38” (alluding to the Russian police headquarters from Moscow), because that land was given to law people for the construction of houses.

According to the same data, the 600 sqm on which is built the house of prosecutor entered in his possession in 2006. Also at that time, after few months, he got notice of construction, and after 2.5 years, at the end of 2008, the house worth millions was finished, the acceptance report dating 29^th of December 2008.

The building, registered last summer

In 2006, immediately after obtaining the land, the prosecutor have put it in pledge to Moldova Agroindbank, branch Straseni, for a loan of 115 thousand lei . The contract between Rata and the banking institution is valid until 2021, ie for 15 years, during which he will repay borrowed money. Note that, when recording the home at Cadastre, Alexandru Rata indicated his visa residence in an apartment on Milescu Spataru Street, 9, from Chisinau.

It should also be noted that, although the prosecutor’s house was completed in 2008, and he lives in it for many years, officially, the building was registered at Cadastre only on August 9^th, 2013, more than five years after commissioning the building, and, coincidentally or not, during which ZdG wrote a series of articles about the houses of millions of judges and prosecutors in Moldova. At the same time, not even in 2014, the building of prosecutor was not assigned a street number, appearing without official address including in the acts from the Cadastre. Specialists for the regulation of land from the City Hall Straseni could not explain why the prosecutor’s house does not have an address.

The cars of Rata family

The building of millions of attorney Rata is estimated by real estate experts at about two millions lei. In his yard there is another building, which appears in documents as summer kitchen. But buildings do not appear in the statement of income and property of the official. In fact, in Alexander Rata’s statement, filed in February 2013 and posted on the website of the National Integrity Commission (NIC), can only be found information about the salary that prosecutor received in 2012, amounting 85 539 lei (about 7000 lei per month). The statement is missing information about the house of millions, about eventual apartments or  cars, seen frequently in dignitary’s court.

According to ZdG sources, Tatiana Rata, wife of the prosecutor, is driving a BMW X5, with registration number ST XX 005, a car that was bought a few months ago. His son, Alexandru, who is officially unemployed, was seen, until a few months ago, driving a BMW car, with Transnistrian numbers K 113 AK. According to the same sources, prosecutor’s family have another two cars, and small business in Straseni, and attorney is used to drive his official car with registration numbers ST PG 007, model VAZ – 2107 for personal interests.

Building materials for dismissal of the case

A man from Straseni (editorial owns his name, but do not reveal it, due to safety reasons) admits that, during the time prosecutor Alexander Rata was building the luxury house, he asked of him many building materials. The man claims that at that time he had a criminal case managed by Prosecutor Straseni and agreed to provide construction materials to prosecutor’s request. “Now I have no criminal case. It was stopped”, he said, avoiding to get into details, because “I do not want to intrude”.

In 2011, former MP George Straisteanu addressed a file to PG with a complaint concerning Prosecutor’s prosecutor Straseni Daniel Precup and Alexandru Rata, whom he accused of fabricating a criminal case against him. Then, PG sent the materials to the Anti – Corruption Prosecutor (PA), which refused to start criminal prosecution on behalf of the two prosecutors. Straisteanu challenged the refusal in court, but the request was not met.

“I declared it this year”

Asked by ZdG, prosecutor Alexandru Rata has admitted that has a house, but claims that he indicated it in the statement of income and property in 2013. ‘It is commissioned in 2013. I declared it this year”, he said. I asked him why he had not reported it in 2012 too. Rata told us that he did so when he started building the house and announced even then Attorney General about this. “We’ve moved into the house in 2008, but it was not ready. It was not ready on the outside, many things were not ready. You see that, when I moved to the house, I declared it, I have put the price that was originally considered by architecture. After that I did not declare it because it was not commissioned”, the prosecutor excuses. About cars, he said that, currently, neither he nor his family have. “I do not have a car at the moment. Wife, yes, she drives a BMW X5, but not hers. There is no mandate or proxy, it simply is in use”, says Rata. I asked him about his son’s car with Transnistrian numbers. “Now you want too much information. But, if you want to know, yes, he had a BMW with Transnistrian numbers, but not any more … Now, my family has no car … “, says Rata.

“Do you know how many credits I have and how many debts?”

Regarding the fact that someone claims that gave building materials for house, prosecutor denies, but do not go into details. “God forbid. You can also write it, but I reserve my right … I understand that you are preparing something and want to come out with a sensation, but, you know there is ECHR judgment of conviction on prosecutors …!? I do not hide anything, everything I have is public”, he said. “May I ask you something? All prosecutors who have houses should appear in ZdG, what’s the problem?”, asked us Rata. “It’s a rich house and furnished with all …, luxury? Do you know how many credits I have and how many debts? I simply was not declaring them as I thought I do not have to, but I have many credits. Check first. I see that you want to affect my image”, alleged Rata. I asked him to give us the statement filed in 2013, but the prosecutor said it was filed two weeks ago at PG and does not have a copy. PG representatives were unable to provide us statement of prosecutor.

Alexander Rata is a member of the College Qualification of the PG. He has got this right after the elections from December 2013, being voted by 329 of the 690 prosecutors present at the General Assembly of Prosecutors. In January 2012, with encouraging of some prosecutors about the twentieth anniversary from the formation of the Moldovan Prosecutor, Rata was awarded the medal “For Impeccable Service” class III. In 2011, in the agenda of the meeting of Disciplinary Board figured a disciplinary proceeding instituted on him, but no information about it has not reached the CSP, which demonstrates that the disciplinary procedure was rated yet at CSP.

P.S. After the article appeared in the print edition of ZdG, on Thursday, March 13^th, Alexandru Rata phoned us at the office, noting that disagrees with some information related by us. Thus, he said that he had built the house since 2004, and not 2006. I explained to the prosecutor that our information is based on a document from the Cadastre. In turn, he told us that he recorded later the land at Cadastre, in 2006, because than he needed documents to take the loan of 115 thousand lei from the bank. Alexandru Rata mentioned once again that he has not received from any person with a criminal record building materials for raising the house. At the same time, he claims that he has never been relegated from office for any violations. 

UPDATE:  PG: Attorney Alexander Rata was not demoted from office

Tuesday, March 18^th, 2014, ZdG received official response from the Prosecutor General (PG) on the work of Alexandru Rata in PG bodies. In a response filed by Isai Sîrcu, chief prosecutor of the staff Department indicated that Alexandru Rata began working in the Public Prosecutor on 22^nd of December 1997 with the help function of the prosecutor Camenca district.

Subsequently, in 2000 was appointed prosecutor of Camenca district. From April 18^th, 2003, Alexandru Rata is appointed prosecutor Straseni district, where he served until the expiry of the prosecutor mandate. By order of the Prosecutor General from 4^th of April 2007, at the request of Alexandru Rata, was transferred to the position of prosecutor of criminal Control Department, where he served until December 2010. By order dated on December 3^rd, 2010, by contest, was appointed prosecutor of Straseni district. Alexandru Rata was not demoted from office and has no other disciplinary sanctions, informed us PG representatives.

Victor MOŞNEAG, victor.mosneag@zdg.md