The criminal case against the suspended prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo is going to trial on three charges: abuse of office, passive corruption and making of fraudulent statements.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement that Stoianoglo is accused of committing an abuse of office when he decided to drop charges against the controversial financier Veaceslav Platon and release him from detention in June 2020. Platon had been suspected of playing a role in the 2014 bank fraud. By letting Platon go, Stoianoglo is believed to have caused pecuniary damage to the state estimated at 896 million lei.
The charge of passive corruption, a legalese term for bribery, refers to 63 million lei worth of assets that Stoianoglo allegedly received from Platon.
Lastly, the suspended chief prosecutor is accused of withholding information in his official declaration of assets that his wife had become an effective beneficiary of a Ukraine-registered company.
Also standing trial will be two PGO prosecutors accused of acting in complicity with their boss to drop charges against Platon.
The case will be tried on the merits by the Chisinau/Buiucani Court.
Meanwhile, prosecution continues against Stoianoglo on two other charges, where he is accused of abuse of office in his capacity as chair of Parliament’s national security commission, as well as of unjust enrichment.
Arrested in October 2021, Stoianolgo is currently on bail.
The suspended prosecutor general denies any wrongdoing and intends to plead not guilty.
