Ion Sholtoianu accused of blackmail

Ion Sholtoianu, who is tried for the murder of ex- police officer Ion Stratulat, is also accused of blackmail in a case that involves a former employee of the law enforcement bodies, Info-Prim Neo reports. The prosecutors accuse the two of designing a criminal scheme in the summer of 2008, together with another three persons who are citizens of Ukraine. They forced a man to transfer 5% (240,000 lei) of the share in the statutory capital he held in a joint company to a person. In a news conference on Thursday, Prosecutor Ruslan Toma, head of the Investigation Division of the Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office, said that being threatened with death, the man signed a number of documents and was consequently illegally dismissed from the post of manager of the company. “The accused persons blackmailed the man and forced him to sign his apartment over to them, but the victim managed to annul those documents,” said Ruslan Toma. The legal case was sent to the Centru district court for examination. The three Ukrainian citizens are being investigated in a separate case. If the court finds him guilty, Ion Sholtoianu will serve 10 to 15 years in jail. Ion Sholtoianu stands trial for killing former policeman Ion Stratulat. He admits his guilt, but pleads not guilty as he says he defended himself.