A group of Colonita residents accuse villager Viorel Ghimp, who is a relative of the Liberal Party leader, of misappropriating a number of buildings in the village. They said they sought justice in courts, but they ruled in Viorel Ghimp’s favor, Info-Prim Neo reports. In a news conference on July 5, one of the group’s leaders Kiril Umanetski said that Viorel Ghimp illegally registered the unfinished building of a kindergarten, an engineering laboratory and the foundations of two buildings that were to have by 30 apartments in his name. Earlier, these constructions were the property of the Colonita collective farm. After the farm disbanded, the property was divided between its members. Kiril Umanetski said that Viorel Ghimp collected signatures from villagers by fraud and appropriated the engineering laboratory in 2007. He then misappropriated the building of the kindergarten and the 40 areas around it. Attending the news conference, the mayor of Colonita Angela Zaporojan said that Viorel Ghimp promised to finish the kindergarten, but nothing has been yet done. “The people decided that the kindergarten should be transferred to the mayor’s office. But Viorel Ghimp asks for 7 million lei for it,” said Angela Zaporojan. Galina Luchian, who claims she has a share in the building, said the kindergarten was to be attended by 160 children. Now the parents have to keep their children at home. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Viorel Ghimp denied the accusations. He said it will be the court that will rule on the legality of his property. “Those buildings have belonged to me since 1999. The ownership certificate shows this. The litigation is political in character,” he stated. Viorel Ghimp confirmed that he is a relative of Mihai Ghimpu, but said that the chairman of the Liberal Party has nothing to do with this conflict. “He is the child of a cousin of mine. He is not my nephew,” Mihai Ghimpu told the reporters. “I heard rumors about this case, but it is the court that should decide who is right. It is a pity that not all the children can attend the kindergarten and the building is not finished. I’m sorry that another cousin appeared on the political arena.”