Hysteria about raider attacks is aimed at obtaining political dividends, Marian Lupu

The hysteria about the cases of raider attacks on financial-banking institutors is used by certain persons to obtain political dividends, the head of the Democratic Party Marian Lupu, Moldova’s Acting President, said in the program “In Profunzime” on Pro TV channel, Info-Prim Neo reports. Marian Lupu stated that these attacks are not the first this year. “Why do they make such a fuss now? Only because Slovenian investors are involved and Slovenia is a member of the EU?” Marian Lupu asked. He said that Prime Minister Vlad Filat was earlier informed about a similar case involving a Tiraspol court based in Causeni by a letter from an embassy working in Chisinau. “If there were such signals, it was a chance to stop such actions. But one of the ministries answered that the legal system is a separate one and there are no instruments for intervention,” said Marian Lupu. He also said that one of the goals pursued by those who stimulate hysteria about the raider attacks is to settle an account with certain institutions and certain inconvenient persons working at these institutions. “They spoke about the Security and Information Service, the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime, the National Financial Market Commission, but said nothing about the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the Court Decision Implementation Department, and about the Ministry of the Interior because the bailiffs are accompanied by police officers when they go to implement court decisions. Such a selective approach astounds me,” said Marian Lupu. He stated that they also aim to obtain a common vote (of the PLDM and PCRM) in Parliament in order to discharge functionaries of the institutions enumerated by Prime Minister Vlad Filat for being questioned. “They maybe aim to destroy the AEI and form a new coalition or possibly this is an election campaign tactic used by somebody who wants early elections,” said Marian Lupu. The raider attacks targeted four banks and an insurance company. They say that 27.5% of the shares in Moldova Agroindbank, 78% of the shares in Universalbank, 17% of the shares in Banca de Economii and 5% of the shares in Victoriabank were appropriated through offshore companies. On September 6, the PLDM asked calling a Parliament hearing in order to question representatives of a number of institutions in these cases, including the Security and Information Service, the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. In several days, the PCRM made a similar request, but its application was rejected as a part of the signatures were not in the original. The Supreme Court of Justice is to hold a hearing on the issue on September 14. The National Bank and the National Financial Market Commission will be the first to be questioned by the parliamentary commission on economy, budget and finance on September 13.