Filat Acquitted in Money Laundering Case: Prosecutors to Challenge Decision

In the morning, the former prime minister arrived at the Buiucani sector court, where the hearing was held. Filat repeatedly claimed his innocence. The prosecutors said that they would challenge the judgement on appeal. The prosecutor asked to apply to the former prime minister a 7-year imprisonment and a fine of 12.8 million lei, equivalent to the sums that were the object of money laundering. Sentencing in the case was scheduled for 7 May. The case has been pending since January 2019 and has gone through several periods of stagnation. Prosecutors allege that in 2013, Vlad Filat, then prime minister, knew from his relative Ion Rusu that he had received 12,847,902 lei illegally from Banca de Economii. According to prosecutors, through companies managed by Ion Rusu, the former prime minister converted and transferred the money he had received to the account of a non-resident company to pay for campaign consulting services for the parliamentary elections. Vlad Filat considers this case a ‘creation’ of Plahotniuc’s prosecutor’s office. ‘In a truly democratic state and with fair justice, this case cannot take place,’ he said on Facebook. Filat was detained on 15 October 2015 for passive corruption and benefiting from influence. The politician was left without parliamentary immunity by a vote of 79 MPs at the request of former Prosecutor General Corneliu Gurin. The request came after Ilan Șor’s denunciation.