The Chisinau Court of Appeals today upheld last week’s district court decision to give Andrei Tranga, the owner of the popular Andy's Pizza and La Plăcinte restaurants, 30 more days of preventive arrest.

Tranga himself refused to appear before the court, anticipating the outcome. His lawyer, Ion Dron said the businessman “doesn’t believe in (the Moldovan) justice”.

Dron claimed that reports of Tranga conspiring hostile takeovers with the crime boss Grigory Karamalak, aka The Bulgarian, were publicity tricks designed to malign his client.

“They are not connected in any way. Mr Tranga gave explanations on several pages where he debunked all the claims that he was doing business with (Karamalak)”, said Dron, suggesting that the kingpin’s name is only used as a bogeyman.

The lawyer went on to tell reporters that the prosecution has hurt Tranga’s business, as partners are driven away and employees are scared to put their signatures on any transaction papers.

Andrei Tranga was arrested in April on suspicion of attempting to dispossess an associate of a 10 million euros stainless steel cistern business. Tranga has claimed in turn that his detainment was in fact an attempt to squeeze him out of his successful business.