The UK hasn’t received any Interpol request concerning Moldovan citizens Veaceslav Platon and Gheorghe Cavcaliuc, said British Ambassador in Chisinau Steven Fisher. According to the diplomat, his country is ready to cooperate with the Republic of Moldova as to the retrieval of the stolen bank funds if there is pertinent evidence. The confiscation of Luca Filat’s money and its transfer to Moldova for being used for the benefit of the Moldovan citizens is a proof of the fruitful bilateral cooperation, IPN reports.
In accordance with a memorandum signed by the British Ambassador to Moldova and the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, the money confiscated by the British authorities from Luca Filat, the son of former Premier Vlad Filat, was returned to Moldova. The £458,068 went to ensure the social protection of persons with severe disabilities.
“These funds were used to employ 566 personal assistants for persons with severe disabilities. The UK has very solid laws on the recovery of illicit funds. To my mind, any time there are proofs or reasonable suspicions about cases of corruption and unjust enrichment, the Republic of Moldova should cooperate with the given countries, including the UK, so as to formally, seriously investigate and localize eventual funds. The law enforcement agencies in the UK are ready to cooperate with the Moldovan authorities. We will continue to cooperate, if need be,” Steven Fisher stated in the program “Diplomatic Dimension” on the public TV channel.
The British diplomat avoided pronouncing on the cases of citizens Veaceslav Platon and Gheroghe Cavcaliuc, but said that no application from Interpol concerning the two was filed to the UK.
“I cannot comment on these cases, but can say that the Embassy and other authorities in the UK actively cooperate with the authorities of the Republic of Moldova. The authorities in the UK efficiently and fully respond to any well-founded formal request for legal assistance. As far as I know, Interpol made no request to the British authorities. Interpol didn’t distribute any application between the member states about Cavacaliuc or Platon. We want to cooperate, but we cannot do it without an official application from the responsible institutions,” stated Stiven Fisher.
The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland were established on January 17, 1992. This year it has been three decades of Moldovan-British cooperation.
