The Chairman of the National Security, Defense and Public Order Commission of the Parliament, Chiril Moţpan, says that "people’s expectations, namely purging the tax system of compromised persons, involved in criminal schemes, in the pyramid structure of collecting money from tax corruption, failed dismally upon the appointment of Sergei Puscuţa as finance minister,” IPN reports.
At a press briefing, Chiril Moţpan has mentioned that "Serghei Puşcuţa, former director of the State Tax Service, is a good friend of President Igor Dodon, and some say the two recently became relatives." The MP wonders "if Serghei Puşcuţa will succeed in defending the interests of the state and citizens, since, according to the information available to him, being head of the STS in 2016, he promoted several loyal persons, including two relatives (godchildren), in important positions."
According to the deputy, "the properties owned by the family of the minister of finance, including about 500 hectares of land, are relevant. "With his salary of budget employee, I think he would find it very difficult to justify the obtained properties amounting to one million euros," pointed out Chiril Moţpan.
Chiril Moţpan has also said that, according to the information he has gathered, during Sergei Puscuta's term at the STS "the schemes of illegal refund of value added tax and money laundering started to be implemented, including by artificially increasing the value of export goods or establishing of fake VAT amounts based on fictitious exports.”
Chiril Moţpan stated that "in 2008 Serghei Puşcuţa was dismissed from the position of director of the Center for Combating Economic Crimes and Corruption, and one of the reasons was the protection of illegal VAT refund schemes. "Obviously one can infer that, as Minister of Finance, the Customs Service being also subordinated to him, Mr. Pusccuţa will manage just as "profitably" the area within his competence," noted the deputy.
Chiril Moţpan also said that, before the appointment of Sergei Puscuţa as Minister of Finance, the information available to him was conveyed to the Speaker of Parliament, Zinaida Greceanîi, who decided to ignore it. "In these schemes of looting the economy and the state budget, people from all branches of power are suspected," maintains the Chairman of the National Security, Defense and Public Order Commission of the Parliament.
Chiril Moţpan has specified he obtained the information from confidential sources, from state institutions, that know how to do their job. He has also mentioned that the data have already been handed over to the Prosecutor General's Office.