The co-owner of the network of Vento gas stations Igor Borș, the charges against whom were dropped by prosecutors, said the case featuring him was an attempt to appropriate his business,. When it became clear that this is not possible, including in connection with the political changes, the prosecutors realized that the case should be sent to court at any cost so as to justify their actions. Igor Borș noted he was in custody for a year and wasn’t interrogated at all in the period.
In a news conference at IPN, Igor Borș said that on March 3, 2018, at 7am, prosecutors and employees of the Ministry of Home Affairs came to his home to carry out searches. When he read the accusations made against him, he realized that these were fabricated as those charged had nothing to do with his life and work. “When I left home in handcuffs, I told my daughters that their great-grandfather was taken to Siberia in a similar way, with the purpose of dispossessing him of everything,” stated the businessman.
According to him, the actions in relation to him represented a raider attack – his accounts were blocked, his personal property and the company’s assets were seized, not yet his shareholdings. Being in the penitentiary, in the initial period he had up to 12 lawyers, some of whom told him he should start to negotiate his release. But he told them he will talk only when he is set free. Since then, such proposals haven’t been formulated.
“I stayed in jail for a year. Initially, we were six persons in a cell that was eight square meters in area, with the toilet being also there. Many persons stay in such conditions, including innocent ones. Such persons as Morari (suspended chief of Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, e.n.) tell lies everywhere and destroys persons,” stated Igor Borș. He noted that Viorel Morari will be questioned and will have the chance to protect himself, but he didn’t have such a chance as he wasn’t interrogated at all while in custody.
Victor Munteanu, the lawyer for Igor Borș, said that during the remand detention, Igor Borș asked to be explained the accusations made against him. He became the co-owner of the network on March, 2018 and in several days was arrested on charges of money laundering, which he didn’t commit. The prosecutors were obliged by a court judgment to explain the charges, but they didn’t do it. Attempts were made to create a commission rogatory to discover offshore areas, but nothing could be proven.
Victor Munteanu said the initial accusations based on which the persons were arrested were fully dropped in February 2019, but the company was indicted for tax evasion based on the opinion of a fiscal inspector. In December 2020, the court held the case lacked substance and acquitted Igor Borș and the company. The first part of justice was done, but the second part should follow. It is important to hold the persons to blame for these illegalities accountable.
