Four ex-MPs were detained following searches carried out over unjust enrichment. The Prosecutor General’s Office does not give names, but the press reported that these are Violeta Ivanov and Vladimir Vitiuc, who are now members of Șor Party, Artur Reshetnikov, former judge of the Constitutional Court, and Anatolie Zagorodnyi, ex-director of the National Dispute Settlement Agency.

“We confirm the detaining of four ex-MPs of those who are being subject to searches. We cannot yet confirm the names of these as this is personal data,” press officer of the Prosecutor General’s Office Mariana Cherpec stated for IPN.

The police in the morning of February 2 carried out searches at a number of addresses. The investigative measures cover 47 buildings and 13 cars. The cases of unjust enrichment are probed following the corrupting of MPs for leaving the parliamentary groups of which they formed part.

In December 2015, 14 MPs of the Party of Communists, among whom was the leader of the party’s parliamentary group Violeta Ivanov, announced their defection from the group and the party and the creation of the Social-Democratic Party “For Moldova”.  Later, a part of them joined the Democratic Party and the Pro Moldova parliamentary group led by Andrian Candu. Some of these MPs currently form part of Șor Party.