A court hearing scheduled for today in the second criminal case brought against Vlad Filat has been postponed until April 15. Filat’s lawyer Victor Munteanu told IPN the postponement was requested by the defense as the former prime minister was in recovery.
“It’s nothing very serious. A dental procedure after which (Mr. Filat) needs some time to recover”, specifically at least until next Friday, explained Munteanu.
There is also another reason. Munteanu said a new lawyer has just joined the defense, and some time is needed for both bureaucratic procedures and for the new addition to familiarize himself with the case.
In the second case, ex-prime minister Vlad Filat is accused of laundering money in extremely large amounts. In particular, it is alleged that in 2013 the former prime minister hired a Washington-based political consulting firm to advise his Liberal Democratic Party ahead of the 2014 legislative election. The prosecution says that Filat paid the company the equivalent of over 12.8 million lei through an intermediary with money that had been embezzled from the now defunct Banca de Economii.
Vlad Filat, who was already found guilty of, and jailed for the embezzlement part in 2016, has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
The crime of laundering money in extremely large amounts is publishable by prison times ranging from 5 to 10 years.
