President Maia Sandu signed on Wednesday, October 12, the decree appointing Ion Munteanu, a prosecutor in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, as interim Prosecutor General, according to the presidential institution.

Ion Munteanu’s candidacy was proposed to the head of state by the Superior Council of Prosecutors (CSP) following its meeting on 11 October. The CSP’s decision follows the expiry of the interim office, held from 6 October 2021 by prosecutor Dumitru Robu. Ion Munteanu is currently acting Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office(PA).

In 2021, Munteanu collected from the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) a salary of about 351 thousand, which is about 29 thousand lei monthly. In addition, his family received an allowance from Romania of more than 5800 RON (romanian leu, just under 1200 euros).

Ion Munteanu has been a prosecutor since 2006. He previously worked in the Prosecutor’s Office of the Centre District, Chisinau municipality, and in 2009, his name appeared in a disciplinary procedure filed after the detention of a young minor protester on 8 April 2009, finding that he had “unfoundedly submitted to the Centre Court the application for the application of the preventive measure “preventive arrest” against the minor Cernei”, and later that “similar violations were admitted by Prosecutor Munteanu in the case of the detention of the minor Postica”. He was punished with a “warning” in May 2010. A few months later, in July 2010, he was appointed prosecutor in the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. In March 2013 he went on leave to care for his child, only to return to his post in May 2014.

On 6 October 2018, by order of the then Prosecutor General Eduard Harunjen, Ion Munteanu was installed as head of the Ciocana Office of the Chisinau City Prosecutor’s Office, a post left vacant after the departure of Ruslan Popov. At the time, the PG did not publicly announce these personnel changes.

According to magistrat.md, Prosecutor Munteanu has been encouraged on several occasions in recent years. In August 2018, the CSP proposed to the Prosecutor General the application of encouragement with the Medal “For Impeccable Service”, Class III, and on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the proclamation of the Independence of the Republic of Moldova, for “exemplary performance of service duties, initiative and operativeness”, the CSP proposed to the Prosecutor General his encouragement with “Expression of thanks”.

In January 2016, on the occasion of the Prosecutor’s Worker’s Day, “taking into consideration the results of the work carried out, qualitative and quantitative performance indicators achieved during 2015, professional and moral qualities of some prosecutors”, the CSP proposed to the Prosecutor General to encourage Munteanu with the “Eminent Prosecutor’s Chest Badge”. And in 2015, for the “exemplary performance of service, initiative and efficiency, on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Moldova”, the PSC proposed to the Prosecutor General to encourage him with the Honorary Diploma of the Prosecutor’s Office category II.

House worth millions, donated by in-laws

Earlier, ZdG wrote that the prosecutor lives in a house donated in 2017 by his in-laws, Valentin and Elena Brasovschi. The 105.8-square-metre building is built on a 5-acre plot of land and has an indicated value of 1.2 million lei.

Valentin Brasovschi, the prosecutor’s father-in-law, is the former administrator of the construction company “Dansicons” SRL, one of the best known on the market, founded by former MP Iurie Dârda. Brașovschi left the company in February 2017, his family owns the company “Ideal Construct”, which since September 2019 has passed to Victor Soltan.

The house received as a gift by prosecutor Ion Munteanu and his wife Natalia is located in the commune of Stăuceni, Chisinau municipality. It has two levels and was built by Valentin and Elena Brașovschi in 2012-2013, being completed in October 2013. On July 26, 2017, following a donation contract, it becomes the property of Natalia Munteanu. The building has an official surface of 105,8 sq.m., and is built on a plot of land of 5 acres.

“They were simply donations for children. Parents are simply helping us. They can confirm their income, they have businesses. They built the house themselves,” Ion Munteanu told ZdG in 2018.

In 2020, Ion Munteanu came into possession of a Dacia Duster car, manufactured in 2015 and purchased for about 147 thousand lei.

As of 2017, the Munteanu’s own and drive two Mercedes model cars, one made in 2011 and the other in 2014.

On October 25, 2021, the prosecutor Ion Munteanu sent to ZdG a reply to an article in which he mentioned that “the property (the house n.ed.) belongs to Natalia Munteanu, my wife, with a 1.0 share, property that she received as a gift from her parents. I do not appear in the deed of donation, I have no share and I cannot have one now or in the future, because it is a donation that concerns her only (…)”.

“It’s the father’s business what he donates to his daughter and don’t ask me why and how he decided to issue me a mandate of use. I did not ask anyone to do so. Yes, it’s true nor have I refused to drive any car that was entrusted to me. But there’s nothing illegal or immoral about driving my kids home from school in their grandparents’ car! The fact that I drive it, hold on to the steering wheel and press the pedals doesn’t automatically mean that I have even the smallest contribution to its purchase and maintenance. The only means of transport that I personally bought with the money I received for unused vacation days for years, to which I added my savings from about 15 years of work, was a Dacia Duster, manufactured in 2015 (…)”, Ion Munteanu declared.