Andrei Năstase: Plahotniuc and Dodon Made a Deal

The leader of the Dignity and Truth Platform Party (DA) Andrei Năstase appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office with a request to resume the investigation of illegal financing from abroad of the Party of Socialists (PSRM). He said this at a press conference on November 19, adding that the video recording of the conversation between President Igor Dodon and former Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, which results in the bringing legal action, is real, and, therefore, an investigation is necessary. Năstase said that he demanded to cancel the order of the prosecutor Alexandru Cernei, who in July of this year dismissed the investigation of the illegal financing of the socialists. According to him, this was also the result of a conspiracy between Dodon and Plahotniuc. “In June this year, Plahotniuc and Dodon made a deal  which was to dismiss the case against Plahotniuc about usurping power in exchange for dismissing the case on the PSRM illegal financing. The usurpation case was dismissed on July 8, a month after the political crisis in Moldova, as well as the second case. Therefore, DA demands that the investigation to be resumed,” Năstase said. The politician said that the recording of the meeting between Plahotniuc and Dodon is real, which means that a criminal case must also be brought against the president. “We checked these records, they are real. Moreover, the same is the one where they discuss the need for federalization, and the one where they discuss the financing of PSRM from Russia. Therefore, a criminal case must also be brought against Dodon,” he emphasized. We remind that Publika TV, owned by then-leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc, published a video on June 8, where President Igor Dodon, in conversation with Plahotniuc and his deputy Serghei Iaralov, allegedly admitted that he received money transfers from Russia to support the party. At the same time, expenses for the party reached $1 million monthly, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak allegedly said that if the Socialists go to power with the Democrats, then let Plahotniuc finance them. On July 8, the prosecutor’s office decided to refuse to institute criminal proceedings, since “no facts of illegal financing of the PSRM were confirmed”. Newsmaker