Victoria Eșanu, the wife of businessman Valentin Eșanu, calls on Prime Minister Pavel Filip and Speaker of Parliament Andrian Candu to intervene in the case of her husband who managed a metal collection business. The woman said that after her husband spent one year and a month in remand detention, he was remanded again in custody the day he was to be set free, this time in a new criminal case. The situation repeated on September 14, when the 30-day period of remand detention in the second case expired. Valentin Eșanu was arrested for 72 hours, being charged with fiscal evasion in a third case. According to his wife, the given actions are abusive and their end goal is to eliminate the company from the market or even to take over the business.
In a news conference at IPN, Victoria Eșanu said that during a year and a month her husband was held in remand detention after on August 15, 2017, he and seven employees of the company he managed were charged with tax evasion and money laundering in particularly large amounts. Those employees were released in four months, while Valentin Eșanu has been held at Penitentiary No. 16 and he is in a poor state of health. The criminal cases for tax evasion and money laundering have been “in vogue” in the case of business entities that resist and continue to do business in Moldova.
According to the woman, as the remand detention could no longer be extended, on August 15 the man was set free. When he was leaving the penitentiary, he was stopped by masked person and was again arrested for 30 days for arbitrariness, being charged with the placing of a two-meter fence in an unauthorized way. The remand detention expired on September 14. In today’s hearing, the judge rejected the prosecutor’s request to extend the preventive detention period and Valentin Eșanu was to be set free. But when he was leaving the prison, he was again awaited by masked persons. He was arrested for 72 hours and Victoria Eșanu expects he will be again held on remand. The last case was started over tax evasion and money laundering, but he already stayed a year in jail on such charges.
The woman also said that the activity performed by his husband as of 2000 is related to the state-run company “Metalferos” and a number of attempts were made to arrest him and deprive him of his business.
Valentin Eșanu is the father of three minor children and is the only maintainer of the family. When he was arrested, all his bank cards were blocked and his property, including the house, were sequestrated. His wife and her relatives have been subject to pressure.
Victoria Eșanu made numerous approached to the Premier, Speaker of Parliament and the Prosecutor General’s Office, but all in vain. The woman said she mounted a protest in front of the PGO and the Parliament Building and intends to stage more protests at all the state institutions starting with next week. Victoria Eșanu requested the Premier and the Speaker to take attitude to this case and to stop the fabrication of cases.
