Representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases announce that on Monday, December 27, prosecutors initiated a new criminal case in the name of the controversial businessman Veaceslav Platon who is wanted after fleeing the country after the July parliamentary elections.

According to Prosecutor’s Office officials, Platon is suspected of committing tax evasion. More precisely, the prosecutors announced that Platon did not pay the State Fiscal Service taxes of over 350,000 euros during the years 2012-2015.

“This criminal case was initiated based on the report prepared in September 2021 by the state prosecutor who previously, in the retrial of the criminal case, waived the accusation brought against Platon. For unclear reasons, the previous leadership of the Prosecutor’s Office did not order the examination of the prosecutor’s report as dictated by the mandatory provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure but opted to send the prosecutor’s notification as simple information to the investigative bodies.

Subsequently, after the change of the leadership of the Prosecutor’s Office, during the verification of the circumstances of waiving the accusation, other actions were verified that would be suspicious in the sense of favoring Veaceslav Platon in this criminal trial. Inter alia, the act of notifying the prosecutor was detected, from September 2021. Thus, in November 2021, being correctly implemented the provisions of Article 274 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the report was registered in the Register of Crime Records of the Prosecutor’s Office. Therefore, on December 27, 2021, after examining the documents, including the opinion issued by the State Fiscal Service, the prosecutors ordered the initiation of the criminal investigation”, it is mentioned in the Prosecutor’s Office note.

In this context, the Prosecutor’s Office announces that “the actions of the responsible prosecutors, who have admitted violations, will be verified in accordance with the provisions of the law.”

On December 3, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced that Veaceslav Platon is under criminal investigation in a criminal case initiated for abuse of office and that prosecutors have requested a 30-day arrest warrant for the controversial businessman. Prosecutors claim that Platon organized and led a group of people who allegedly harmed the Public Association “National Bureau of Motor Insurers” with almost 1 million euros.

On December 1, the anti-corruption prosecutors indicted Platon Veaceslav in absentia, and he was charged with 3 counts, as follows: fraud committed in particularly large proportions; causing material damages in particularly large proportions through deception or abuse of trust; manufacturing, possession, sale or use of official documents, printed matter, stamps or false seals.

On September 1, the Interpol National Office in Chișinău sent a request to the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) INTERPOL in Lyon, France, requesting the wanted warrant for the controversial businessman Veaceslav Platon that fled Moldova after the July 11 parliamentary elections. The controversial businessman Veaceslav Platon flew from Chișinău to Prague on Sunday evening, July 19, but from there he flew to London. Later, in a Facebook post, Platon confirmed that he was in London.