Eugeniu Rurac, a former anti-corruption prosecutor who previously worked for the Intelligence and Security Service and is now acting head of the General Prosecution Directorate at the National Anti-Corruption Centre, was caught in several photos published in the press and on Telegram channels driving a Mercedes S 400 4 Matic.

Asked by Ziarul de Gardă, Eugeniu Rurac said that the car did not belong to him, but to his brother, from whom he borrowed it for a month while his car was being repaired. At the same time, he said that a smear campaign had been launched against him in order to delay some high-profile cases, such as that of illegal financing of the Shor Party.

In a complaint filed with the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS), the NAC’s chief prosecutor accuses Judge Alexei Panis and lawyer Vladimir Mosneaga, who is defending Shor Party vice-president Sergiu Sirbu, of illegally spying on him. The two deny the accusations, but the magistrate has admitted that he has filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office requesting that Eugeniu Rurac be investigated for illicit enrichment.

Asked by Ziarul de Gardă, Eugeniu Rurac said the car did not belong to him but to his brother, who had lent it to him for a short time.

“The information that has appeared in the press and on Telegram channels is distorted and is aimed at denigrating me and stopping some investigations. The car was under repair for a month at Autospace after a small accident. While my car was being repaired, I borrowed this car from my brother, Ernest, who is a businessman, to drive around for a month while my car was being repaired. A week ago I took my car out of the repair shop and returned it to my brother. These are media attacks, behind which there are figures in criminal cases,” says Eugeniu Rurac.

“There are representatives of the Shor Party behind it”

“The surveillance was done both at work and in traffic, and around the home. In the back are representatives of the Shor Party, especially one of Artur Reșeticov’s lawyers, Vladimir Moșneaga. He also defends the interests of the former president of the Balti Court of Appeal, Alexandru Gheorghieș, and those of Alexandru Ciugureanu, indicted by the CNA in the corruption case at Codru town hall. Another episode in which counter-filming has been documented is related to the judge of the Riscani Court, Alexei Panis, about whom, in January 2022, I submitted an informative document to the SCM and the Prosecutor General’s Office, about the fact that he reinstated, i.e. annulled the decree of the President of the Republic of Moldova dismissing Mr Vladislav Clima. In the complaint I indicated that Mr Panis was in a conflict of interest because his father has joint business with relatives of Judge Vladislav Clima. This is what I know, but I believe that the investigation will establish, because I filed a complaint with the PCCOCS this morning, on the fact of surveillance on me, collection of data from private life and interference in the conduct of criminal proceedings on files of resonance”, said Eugeniu Rurac for ZdG.

Eugeniu Rurac claims that he can prove that the Mercedes S 400 4 Matic car does not belong to him but to his brother, through documents such as the sale-purchase contract and compulsory insurance, which are registered in his brother’s name.

In the complaint filed with the PCCOCS, Eugeniu Rurac also states that he received threatening messages via the Signal app from an unknown user, in which he was summoned to slow down the investigation into the Sor Party’s case.

Complaint to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office for illicit enrichment

Asked by ZdG, Judge Alexei Panis said, “He can file a complaint with the law enforcement authorities if he considers that I have been following him.” At the same time, he confirmed that he had filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office in the name of Eugeniu Rurac on the fact of illicit enrichment. “I have filed a complaint and I am waiting for the legal authorities to decide,” the judge said, without specifying whether his complaint refers to the car in question or to other assets.

Ziarul de Gardă previously reported that Eugeniu Rurac, when he was head of the General Directorate of the Intelligence and Security Service (SIS), filed a complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Centre (NAC), the acting Prosecutor General, Dumitru Robu, and to the interim president of the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM), Dorel Musteață, alleging that magistrate Alexei Panis, who ordered the reinstatement of Vladislav Clima as president of the Chisinau Court of Appeal (CA), was in a conflict of interest with him.

Lawyer Vladimir Moșneaga denied the accusations made by Eugeniu Rurac. “I can’t even comment on that. It’s obviously not true,” the lawyer said at ZdG’s request.

Eugeniu Rurac, told ZdG that he currently owns a BMW X1, manufactured in 2015, purchased in 2020 through a loan taken from the lending company, Easy Credit, where he was previously employed as a section chief after leaving the prosecutor’s office.

His latest asset statement, which can be accessed on the National Integrity Authority website, is from 2019. Subsequently, he was employed in the private sector, and then – at the Intelligence and Security Service. The asset declarations of SIS employees are secret, so they do not appear on the ANI website. At the NAC, Eugeniu Rurac has been employed since September 2022. He says he will submit his wealth declaration soon.

The former anti-corruption prosecutor was hired at the Intelligence and Security Service in September 2021. He left the prosecutor’s office in January 2020, when he resigned without giving reasons.

Eugeniu Rurac handled several high-profile cases, including the case of Judge Ion Druță, who was president of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), the “Metalferos” case, in which damages of more than 200 million lei were established. It was also Rurac who finally dropped the charge against the current president of the Constitutional Court, Domnica Manole, who was on trial for knowingly handing down an illegal ruling.

Eugeniu Rurac also handled the criminal case against former MP Chiril Lucinschi, convicted by the first instance in the bank fraud case.