Former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova Vladimir Plahotniuc has been charged in the Metalferos criminal case. He is accused of creating and running a criminal organization, money laundering, and large-scale fraud.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office representatives, on November 5, the prosecutors registered at the Chișinău Court, Ciocana headquarters the application of the pre-trial detention in absentia for a period of 30 days.

The former president of the Democratic Party, wanted the law enforcement agencies in Chișinău, was the beneficiary of at least three companies that have benefited in recent years, directly or indirectly, from tens of millions of dollars contracts with Metalferos, a joint-stock company in which the state holds the majority stake.

The money entered the accounts of the companies affiliated to Plahotniuc, including during the period when he held public positions, only that neither the money nor the companies were found in the declarations of wealth and interests of the former politician.

In July 2020, Ziarul de Gardă wrote that the law enforcement bodies have the same documents that ZdG analyzed, but, for more than eight months, the criminal case examining these circumstances remains on the prosecutors’ table.