A number of residents of Chetrosu village of Drochia district in a news conference at IPN said that they have been in litigation with a local woman who deceived them and left them without money. The woman persuaded them to invest in a private business that she started, but this business went bankrupt in several years. More than 150 people were swindled out of over 13 million lei.
Iulita Kitsko, one of the victims, said that Galina Furtuna opened a kind of private bank. She collected money from villagers, promising them an interest rate of 5% a month. The woman rented a room in the bulling of the mayor’s office and collected money before the eyes of the mayor and local police officer. This fact convinced the villagers that the business was legal. “I gave Galina Furtuna 145,000 lei that we earned at the wedding of my children. She promised she will help me buy my children an apartment in Chisinau through the agency of her son who worked in the law enforcement bodies,” stated Iulita Kitsko.
Money had been collected during several years. Some of the depositors received the premised interest for several times. When the interest stopped to be paid, the woman invoked different reasons, postponing the payments. The victims filed a lawsuit, but a part of those who saw that they can obtain nothing gave up fighting. Several persons died as a result of the sustained stress. A number of families fell apart.
“The ordinary people are not protected by the law. Regretfully, the money is more important. Where there is money, there is justice and the ordinary people are ignored. Swindler Galina Furtuna deceived the people after earning their trust. She dispossessed people from the neighboring districts and from Chisinau on 13 million lei. Now the people go to courts and cannot find justice,” stated Iulita Kitsko.
Lidia Furtuna, who deposited 30,000 lei in the bank, said the criminal case against Galina Furtuna was sent to the Donduseni Court, but the president of the court had an inappropriate behavior towards the victims. “We were told to leave the courtroom every time we made a remark. We sought help from Nicolae Timofti, when he was chairman of the Supreme Council of Magistrates, and complained about the judges’ behavior to him. But he answered that he identified no violations. We informed the Prosecutor General’s Office. We took measures during two years, but no justice was made to us. After two years, Galina Furtuna was sentenced to five years and six months in jail, but she wasn’t impassioned,” she stated.
The victims appealed the decision to the Balti Court of Appeals, which sentenced the woman to eight years behind bars, but the swindler wasn’t arrested this time either. The representatives of the victims who gave the news conference said they repeatedly wrote to the head of the Democratic Party (PDM) Marian Lupu when he was Head of Parliament. He promised them that he will deal with this case, but nothing was done. Several weeks ago, the Democratic Party staged a festivity in the building owned by Galina Furtuna. The villagers also sought help from the mayor, who is a member of the PDM, but he didn’t react either. The people said they do not have strength to go to court anymore and are disappointed by the corrupt judicial system of Moldova.
