File on defector MPs closed, Prosecutor's Office says

Chisinau, 25 Jan. /MOLDPRES/- The file called "defector deputies" was closed after three years of investigation.

According to the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, the criminal investigation in the case of the three was started in late 2019 by acting General Prosecutor Dumitru Robu on the basis of a reasonable suspicion on the active corruption.

Later, 14 other criminal cases initiated by the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office for passive and active corruption were connected to this criminal case, regarding the alleged illegal actions of 14 ex-deputies of the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova, who, according to a whistleblower, sent and received sums between 200 thousand and 300 thousand euros in November - December 2015, in order to leave the Communist Party faction and to vote on the bills submitted by the Democratic Party.

All 14 MPs did not admit guilt.

The main evidence in the prosecution were the statements of ex-deputy from Communist Party fraction Elena Bondarenco, who died last year.

On December 29, 2022, following the completion of all the required criminal investigation actions and the exhaustion of legal avenues for the administration of evidence, the accused persons were removed from criminal investigation, and the criminal case was dismissed. The criminal investigation continues in relation to the accusations brought against 13 ex-deputies for illicit enrichment.