A judge involved in the Laundromat case was found guilty of deliberately passed a judgment contrary to the law. Although the statute of limitations expired in 2017, the Buiucani Court of Chisinau City recently found the defendant guilty, but released this from criminal responsibility, IPN reports.

The criminal case was initiated in September 2016 by the Prosecutor General, following a notification from the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. In 2011, the judge made an illegal ruling in a civil case at the request of a New Zealand-based company. The case referred to the collection of a debt of US$200 million, jointly and severally, from a company based in the UK and two companies based in the Russian Federation and also from a natural person living in the Republic of Moldova.

The judge issued an order to levy the given debt for the benefit of the creditor – the foreign/non-resident company based in New Zealand - despite the lack of valid legal documents attesting to the powers of attorney of the creditor’s representative. The judge also ignored the fact that the rest of the documents attached to the case were neither properly authenticated nor legalized. So, the defendant frankly ignored the legal procedures when passing the court decision.

The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office said that the court decision issued by the defendant on July 22, 2011 in the civil case had considerable financial consequences. However, the court document issued by the defendant was sent to a bailiff, who between July 2011 and February 2012 forcibly collected funds totaling 5.5 billion Russian rubles from correspondent accounts of Russian banks opened at BC “Moldindconbank”. Subsequently, the money was converted and transferred to the accounts of the company based in New Zealand. As a result, the image of Moldovan justice at international level and confidence in national courts were affected.

The sentence can be appealed to the Chisinau Court of Appeals.