The former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office Viorel Morari, who was detained on January 10, was charged with abuse of power and falsification of public documents and was then questioned as a suspect. An approach was made to have Viorel Morari arrested for 30 days and the request is to be examined on January 13, IPN reports.

In a press release, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) said Viorel Morari’s application to have the prosecutors are dealing with this case Renata Anici, Vladislav Căruceru and Carolina Vidrașcu replaced was examined on January 11. This was rejected as unfounded. There were also examined the materials of the cases to which Viorel Morari made reference, asserting that the first two prosecutors were implicated in these, both of the cases being handled by anticorruption prosecutor Grigore Niculiță, and it was established that there was no conclusive evidence showing these were indeed involved.

“As the statements made for the press by his lawyer Vasile Foltea, who also presented the position of his client, that the accusation is ambiguous and unclear, the PGO refuted these and stated that the ordinance made by the prosecutor complies with the Penal Procedure Code, the defense’s position being subjective and aimed at misleading the public through the media,” runs the press release.

On January 10, Viorel Morari was classed as a suspect and placed under arrest for 72 hours. He is suspected of illegally accepting a complaint from Vladimir Plahotniuc in March 2017, taking later legal action based on this and falsifying a number of documents. This PGO said this was done in his own interests and in the interests of the complainer and persons close to this so as protect them from investigation in the bank fraud case and to obstruct the swift, complete and objective examination of this case. Viorel Morari pleads not guilty.