The head of the Socialists in Parliament declared the house of millions in which he lives in his declaration of wealth after his eldest daughter donated the land on which the house was built

After ZdG discovered in the summer of 2020 that he lived in a luxury house that he had not declared, Corneliu Furculiță, the president of the Socialist Faction in Parliament, decided to include the building in the declaration of wealth and personal interests filed on 31 March. The property was registered at the Cadastre just two months after ZdG found the deputy and his wife at the house located in a suburb of the capital. The head of the Socialists in the Parliament said then that the land on which the house stands belongs to his eldest daughter and that the real estate is a “family investment”, and “several people” participated in its construction. The deputy specified then that the building was not put into operation because it is still being worked on and that “who will be the owner, we will decide”.

“I came here to see if everything is fine. It’s ok.” This is what Corneliu Furculiță told us on the morning of July 14, 2020, when we caught him walking out the gate of a luxury house located in the town of Durlești in Chișinău. The deputy assured us that he does not live in this house. He said that he lives in a modest apartment in Chișinău, although his neighbors told us that the Furculiță family moved in the house in Durlești for more than a year.

“I made an effort to complete the work”

The respective real estate was not indicated in the wealth declarations of the deputy for the previous years, the same goes with the land on which it is built. The head of the Socialists in Parliament claimed then that the building was not put into operation and that his children still work on it: “The house will be put into operation by the owner. Who will be the owner, we will decide“.

Corneliu Furculiță also specified that this house has been under construction for 10 years “and it will still be because there are parts that are not finished”. However, just one month after ZdG uncovered the deputy’s house, Corneliu Furculiță, his wife and younger daughter, received as a donation the land that was officially owned by their eldest daughter. At the same time, despite his declarations that there would be work to finish the building, in September 2020, the house was registered with the Land Relations and Cadastre Agency, now having four owners: the Corneliu Furculiță, his wife, and their two daughters.

Contacted by ZdG to explain how he managed to register the property at the Cadastre, although he previously claimed that there were still works to be done, the deputy stated that the building is not yet fully completed, although a final acceptance document was issued.

“Indeed, I consulted with specialists and made an effort to finish the necessary work, to carry out the registration of the house. Yes, there are still many finishing works to be done on the inside“, pointed out the leader of the Socialist factions in the Parliament.

“We will donate our shares to our daughters”

In his last declaration of wealth, Corneliu Furculiță indicated that both he and his wife and minor daughter own ¼ of a building plot, but also ¼ of the house they had not previously made public. In the declaration for 2020, the socialist indicates that the value of the house is about 45,000 euros, although its market price is several times higher.

“Initially, the land belonged to the Furculiță family. Then, I donated the land to one of the older daughters, with the intention that the donation will be divided when the second daughter grows up. I was building the house, obviously, from the family’s income. Then we decided to share the building with all four family members equally. In the not too distant future, we will donate our quotas to our daughters, which is a normal thing that happens in families”, added the deputy.

Furculiță, investigated by the National Integrity Authority

After the ZdG’s article from July 2020 in which we revealed that the head of the Socialists in the Parliament lives in a luxury house that is not found in his declaration of wealth and personal interest, Action and Solidarity Party deputy Veronica Roșca requested National Integration Authorities to verify the property of the deputy Corneliu Furculiță for the years 2016 – 2020. However, the National Integrity Authority refused to initiate the control of the deputy’s assets “due to the lack of reasonable suspicion regarding the violation of the legal regime”. The inspectors did not identify goods obtained by the deputy, which are to be declared and which were not declared by the Socialist deputy. Referring to the house where the deputy’s family lives, the inspectors mentioned that it is on a plot of land that the Furculiță family donated to his daughter and that the owner of the building is the daughter of the Furculiță family.

“Therefore, the integrity inspector finds that there is no suspicion or assumption that the deputy Corneliu Furculiță violated the legal regime of declaring assets and personal interest, therefore he has no obligation to declare the construction that does not belong to him,” said National Integrity Authority representatives.

A few months later, the National Integrity Authority was notified again to verify the wealth of the Socialist deputy. This time, Iurie Reniță, deputy for the Dignity and Truth Party, came with the request to verify the fortune for the period 2016 – 2019, in the context of the accusations regarding the “money from Russia through the famous Bahamas and used in Igor Dodon’s presidential campaign in 2016 ”. The case on this notification is still under control within the National Integrity Authority and no decision has been taken.

Corneliu Furculiță holds two consecutive mandates as deputy, being president of the Socialist factions in Parliament. Furculță comes from the same village as the former president Igor Dodon, Sadova. The deputy is listed as the founder of Exclusiv Media company, which encompasses the Socialist affiliated media empire. While the deputy is involved in legislative activities, the company is managed by his wife, Ludmila Furculiță, who is a co-worker with Galina Dodon, the former president’s wife, also employed by Exclusiv Media as CFO.

In addition to Exclusiv Media, Corneliu Furculiță is listed as the sole partner of Poliactiv building construction company. Ludmila Furculiță is the administrator of these companies.