The Buiucani branch of the Court of Chisinau municipality sentenced ex-MP Kirill Luchinski to five years and a half in semi-closed jail and banned this from holding posts for a period of four years. The former MP was thus found guilty of money laundering in very large amounts and presentation of false information in statements. Kirill Luchinski was also fined 27,500 lei, IPN reports.
The court also ordered to transfer the €23,100 seized during searches and 1/2 of two plots and a house in Chisinau from the ownership of Kirill Luchinski to the state. These were confiscated in order to recover the damage caused by money laundering, assessed at US$ 440,100 and €278,200.
After the sentence was passed, prosecutor Eugen Rurac said the punishment asked for Kirill Luchinski was reduced by the court by a year. They will examine the argumentation of the ruling and will decide whether to appeal or not.
Kirill Luchinski said the sentence was written elsewhere and on another day, not today at the court. He pleads not guilty and intends to challenge this in the Chisinau Appeals Court. “We presented evidence showing that the origin of the money is not the one invoked by the prosecutors. This case was fabricated and is related to my political activity,” stated the ex-MP.
His lawyer Corina Stratan said Kirill Luchinski was sentenced based on Xeroxed copies of banking documents that weren’t seized from the bank, even if the law provides for this.
The judgment passed on April 4 can be disputed at the Appeals Court within 15 days.
Kirill Luchinski was arrested on May 25 last year. He was accused of money laundering and of not declaring ownership of a company that was involved in the banking fraud. The trial started last November. The ex-MP had been under judicial control.
