The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (PA) informed on Thursday, October 6, about the referral of the criminal case accusing the former President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, of committing the crime of passive bribery and organizing and accepting political party financing from a criminal organization, committed during the exercise of his mandate as President of the Republic of Moldova in June 2019.

The two-count case against Igor Dodon has been referred to the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) for examination on the merits. According to the provisions of Article 39 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the CSJ is competent to judge in first instance criminal cases concerning crimes committed by the President of the Republic of Moldova, the Prosecutor’s Office said.

“According to the charges brought against Igor Dodon, the latter is accused of having, in order to promote the interests of Vladimir Plahotniuc and Sergei Yaralov, who created and led a criminal organization and who had an interest in controlling political, social and economic processes in Moldova, as well as in evading criminal liability in the Russian Federation, demanded and accepted from them money in the amount of $600,000 to $1,000,000. This amount was demanded by Igor Dodon for the payment of the current expenses of the political party “Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova” (PSRM), including the payment of salaries of the employees of the same party,” reads the statement published by the PA.

“We would like to point out that the said amount was collected from Plahotniuc Vladimir and Yaralov Sergei in order to negotiate, in his capacity as President of the Republic of Moldova, with the decision-makers of the Russian Federation, favorable conditions for the political party “Democratic Party of Moldova” (PDM) and, personally, for Plahotniuc Vladimir on the creation of a governing coalition in the Republic of Moldova between the political party “PDM” and the political party “PSRM”. The interest of this coalition included the distribution of ministerial posts in the new government and the leadership of public institutions, as well as the release of Plahotniuc Vladimir from criminal liability for the pending cases against him, which are being handled by the Russian Federation’s law enforcement agencies,” the accusers also said.

At the same time, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating, at the stage of criminal prosecution, three other episodes concerning the indictment of the former President of the Republic of Moldova, Igor Dodon, for committing crimes of illicit enrichment, violation of the management of the financial means of political parties or electoral funds, as well as treason against the Motherland.

The prosecution of some persons who participated in the commission of crimes and acted in complicity with Igor Dodon, whose whereabouts are known, is continuing, and the PA will report on the results separately.

At the same time, with regard to Vladimir Plahotniuc, Sergei Yaralov and other persons who participated in the commission of crimes, but their whereabouts have not been established, after the prior procedures have been followed, the criminal prosecution may be completed in the absence of these persons, and the case may be prosecuted in their absence.

On 18 May 2022, the General Prosecutor’s Office ordered the initiation of criminal proceedings in the so-called “Kuliok” case.

The decision of the Prosecutor’s Office came one day after the Chisinau Court of Appeal overturned in full the decision of the Ciocana District Court of Chisinau to uphold the order not to prosecute the former President of the Republic of Moldova. Moldova, socialist Igor Dodon, as well as the annulment of the same Order, signed by the former Deputy Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, Vasile Levițki, on the fact of alleged illegal financing of the PSRM, based on video footage of the negotiations that took place in June 2019 at the PDM headquarters between Igor Dodon and Vladimir Plahotniuc.

Dodon was detained on 24 May after anti-corruption prosecutors carried out ten raids for more than ten hours at several locations owned by Dodon and his relatives. The searches took place in Sadova, at Igor Dodon’s parental home and house in Chisinau, at the Sadova “Sadovo” rest base, at Molovata on the banks of the Dniester River, where Dodon’s family has invested in another rest base, at the headquarters of the foundations of the former socialist president of Moldova, including the headquarters of the Moldovan-Russian Business Union, where Dodon is president.

During the raids, prosecutors found goods and money worth tens of millions of lei, and in one of the locations searched over 600 thousand lei, 17 thousand euros and 1000 dollars were found. Prosecutors also found a receipt showing that Igor Dodon’s wife had paid 25 thousand euros, cash, in August 2021 as a deposit for kitchen equipment.

The Guard newspaper identified the person who signed this receipt. She provided us with details of the transaction. The trail leads to the ex-president’s brother-in-law, detained by prosecutors while swallowing a receipt, and to an all-inclusive resort on the Nistru River, purchased last summer.