Money confiscated in Great Britain from Luca Filat to be used to support people with disabilities

Chisinau, 21 September /MOLDPRES/-  Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari and British Ambassador to Chisinau Steven Fisher signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the United Kingdom on return of illicit funds confiscated from Luca Filat, son of former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, by order of the courts of the United Kingdom.

The document provides for the return of the confiscated amount worth 458,068 pounds. The funds will be used to hire more than 550 personal assistants for people with severe disabilities. The project will be managed by the National Social Assistance Agency, said the Government's Communication and Protocol Department.

"We are very grateful for the support that Ambassador Steven Fischer and the Government of Great Britain offered to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova. The funds will be used to hire personal assistants for people with severe disabilities, in addition to the almost 6,000 personal assistants who work today. This is certainly a step forward towards improving the standard of living for vulnerable people ", said Marcel Spatari.

The decision to use the confiscated funds to support people with disabilities was announced for the first time in May, during a joint briefing held in Chisinau by President Maia Sandu and the British Minister for European Neighborhood, Wendy Morton.

President Maia Sandu said that the recovery of funds is a result of the efforts of his team to recover illegally stolen funds from the Republic of Moldova.

Monitoring the management of returned funds will be provided by Keystone Moldova, a civil society organization specializing in protecting the rights of people with disabilities.

Photo: Government