The Chisinau Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing two criminal cases related to the alleged illegal crossing of the Moldovan border by MP Ilan Shor. The first one concerns “negligence in the workplace” allegedly committed by customs and border police officers at the Chisinau International Airport; and the second concerns “abuse of office” allegedly committed by people in managing positions at the Airport operating company Avia Invest.

It is believed that Ilan Shor – convicted for his role in the $1B bank fraud, but released on bail pending appeal – sneaked out of the country some time between June 14 and 17, along with other people.

So far prosecutors have been able to find that “a number of people” crossed the state border through the Airport, circumventing customs and border check formalities. Reportedly they used charter flights to depart from Moldova.   

According to the prosecutors, this was possible due to “negligence” shown by border and customs officers policing the Airport and to the “direct involvement” of employees of Avia Invest, the company operating the Airport. It is believed the persons in question were able to leave through restricted access areas.

Recently, prosecutors seized CCTV footage from the Airport in connection with the cases and heard officers in charge of policing Airport checkpoints.

Ilan Shor is himself facing criminal charges. Illegal crossing of the state border is a criminal offense punishable by a fine, or up to 200 hours of community service, or up to two years in jail.