The first deputy chairman of the Liberal Party (PL) , Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca described the searches performed at his parents’ home in the morning of October 31 as pressure exerted on an election runner, IPN reports.

The announced motive for the searches was that the firm run by the Chirtoaca family would have committed tax evasion when performing transactions with another firm that would have had relations with phantom companies.

In a news conference, Dorin Chirtoaca said the Liberal Party is intimidated by another two election runners – the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party. The Ministry of the Interior is politically controlled and fulfils the orders of a political party. The mayor is convinced that by such acts they aim to discredit him and the party of which he forms part.

In a communiqué, the Prosecutor General’s Office said the criminal case over tax evasion is dealt with by the Chisinau Police Division. Following the statements made by representatives of the PL, Prosecutor General Corneliu Gurin ordered examining this case to see if the searches were carried out in accordance with the law.