Former Deputy Minister of Interior Ion Țurcan, about whom Ziarul de Gardă previously wrote that he put on for sale his luxurious house located on the bank of the Dniester, was detained for 72 hours. Ion Țurcan is being investigated in a case of illicit enrichment.

Anti-corruption prosecutors conducted searches on Wednesday morning, November 24, at the home of former Deputy Interior Minister Ion Turcan. At the same time, the anti-corruption prosecutor Petru Iarmaliuc confirmed for ZdG that Ion Țurcan is being investigated in a case of illicit enrichment, and the prosecutors carried out searches at his home in Chișinău. The investigation was started by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, at the notification of the National Integrity Authority, which in turn notified itself based on a material made by ZdG in April.

The National Integrity Authority verifications were carried out for the period Țurcan held several management positions within the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the position of district president. Based on the evidence accumulated in the case, the integrity inspector established that, for 2019, the former deputy minister could not justify the amount of approximately 20,000 euros.

In April, ZdG wrote that General Ion Țurcan, former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, who for 10 months held the position of president of Criuleni district on behalf of the Democratic Party, put up for sale his luxury house, located on the bank of the Dniester. He is ready to give the house in exchange for an apartment, building materials, and even a car. However, the owner of the building is a man named Alexandru, who on the ads site, through which Țurcan tries to sell his property, has ads only for cars.

Although in the declarations of wealth and personal interests, the former head of the “Fulger” Special Purpose Police Brigade wrote that the house was obtained through a donation and that its value is 6,000 euros, on the website announcements the requested price was 320,000 euros or 53 times more than he indicates in the wealth declaration submitted to the National Integrity Authority.

The luxury home with an area of ​​160 square meters, registered in the name of Ion Țurcan, is located on a 27-acre plot on the bank of the Dniester, Criuleni district. The two-level house was registered in the cadastre in July 2020, six months after Țurcan resigned as president of the Criuleni district.

Over time, Ion Turcan’s name has been circulated in various scandals. During the communist period, he retired. It was rumored that he would have withdrawn following a conflict with Gheorghe Papuc, the then Minister of Interior. He returned with the takeover of power by pro-European forces, being appointed, in July 2009, head of “Fulger” Special Purpose Police Brigade.

In 2011, through a letter signed by Alexei Roibu, then Minister of Interior, Ţurcan was proposed to the head of state for promotion to the rank of general. Stunned by the press, Roibu later stated that the signature in the letter was false and did not belong to him. A criminal investigation was launched, which, however, proved otherwise. At that time, however, Ţurcan did not become a general, which was to happen in December 2013, following a decree signed by Nicolae Timofti.