Victor Topa put on international wanted list
- 27.10.2011 11:27
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- 2 minute(s)
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The Moldovan Interpol Bureau has put businessman Victor Topa on the international wanted list at the request of the Moldovan Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry's spokesperson Eugeniu Onica was quoted by HotNews.md as saying.
The police put him on the wanted list even before he was sentenced for “abduction, blackmail and extortion in extremely large proportions”. Whereas then the reason for putting him on the wanted list was Topa's failure to appear before the court when summoned, now he is wanted for being a “sentenced criminal”.
Prosecutor Lilian Rudei confirmed that Topa was wanted by the Interpol and would be immediately arrested and extradited when found.
In August 2010 Victor Topa was formally accused of extorting a stock of shares in Victoriabank from Galinei Proidisvet, including by abducting and intimidating her. On October 19 he was sentenced by the Buiucani District Court to ten years' imprisonment.
Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Sergiu Mocanu, one of the leader of the Antimafia Movement alongside Topa, neither confirmed nor dismissed earlier reports that Topa was seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom. “Victor Topa is in a EU country, but we'll name it exactly when we are sure that he's safe”. Mocanu has repeatedly stated that the criminal case against Topa is “political retaliation”.
A spokesperson for the UK Embassy in Chisinau told Info-Prim Neo that it was beyond the diplomatic mission's authority to offer information on whether or not a person was seeking asylum in the UK.
