The president of the Shor Party Ilan Shor said he is ready to present himself at court hearings in the bank fraud case right away on condition that the warrant for his arrest, which he considers illegal, is annulled and the hearings in this case are opened to the press. He made such statements in a video news conference broadcast through the Internet where he answered journalists’ questions, IPN reports.

Ilan Shor said he has no connection to the bank theft. Two employees of the National Bank were involved in the process of liquidating the three commercial banks, Banca de Economii, Banca Socială and Unibank, for which 13 billion lei was allocated. These are the then vice governor of the National Bank Ema Tăbârță, who was close to Veaceslav Platon, and the head of the Bank Resolution Division Ion Ropot, whose wife worked for Veaceslav Platon.

“The money from the state budget wasn’t taken by me or other persons. This money was allocated from the state budget by public functionaries who decided to destroy the three banks,” stated the politician. He called on the Government and Parliament to explore the possibility of returning the licenses and assets of the banks to the former owners as this would help get back the 13 billion lei. According to Ilan Shor, the former shareholders are preparing a lawsuit over the illegal destruction of three banks and illegal withdrawal of licenses.

Asked by journalists where he is, Ilan Shor said he didn’t leave the country and at night he is present in Dodon’s nightmares, while during the day he works. He cannot appear in public for security reasons.

The politician commented on Socialists’ statements that he was behind the protest mounted by war veterans earlier this week. He said the protest was nothing else, but a spontaneous event that involved people who got tired and want justice.

According to him, the initiation of discussions on the formation of a coalition by the PSRM and PDM was an expected scenario. “No one wants to form a coalition with the Democratic Party now. The intention is to swallow up, to buy this party. Only the party’s administration is interested in uniting with the Socialists,” stated Ilan Șor. He believes the Pro Moldova group left the PDM because the members of this are not ready to form part of the PSRM.

In June 2017, Ilan Shor was sentenced to seven years and a half in jail for causing damage to the state by swindle and abuse of trust. The case is pending at the Cahul Appeals Court. At the start of last July, legal action was taken against the leader of the Shor Party for fleeing Moldova in breach of the ban imposed of him.

In the middle of last August, Parliament decided to lift the parliamentary immunity of Ilan Shor at the request of the then acting prosecutor general Dumitru Robu. Under that decision, Ilan Shor can be arrested, searched and tried “for abuse of power in the interests of an organized criminal group”, as Robu stated.