MP of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) Sergiu Litvinenko said the case concerning the financing of the Party of Socialists (PSRM) is a very important one and, depending on the results achieved in investigating this, society will assess the work of Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo. The MP made the statement following reports that the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office requested the State Tax Service to present information about the financial relations of a number of persons, including Socialist MPs, with the PSRM, IPN reports.

Sergiu Litvinenko noted that during the next few days he will analyze the property statements of all the public servants from the list issued by the APO to the State Tax Service, who are said to have been involved in this case. “We will determine to what extent these loans were declared by the given persons in their property statements that are annually submitted to the National Integrity Authority. Depending on the conclusions, we will make approaches to the responsible bodies as a public servant must declare the raised loans even if these are repaid the next day,” stated the MP.

Nicolae Pascaru, chairman of the Movement “Voievod”, said the former head of the APO Viorel Morari initiated the investigation of the case of funding intended for the PSRM in order to make a victim of himself. This is a political case and the subject was brought into focus before the campaign prior to the presidential elections in a move to discredit the Socialists.

WatchDog.md expert Sergiu Tofilat said the case concerning the financing of the PSRM is very important as Moldova’s legislation bans the political parties from accepting foreign funds. “In this case, they say that the money came from offshore areas. So, it’s not known its origin and who its owner was. The money came to the Republic of Moldova from a TV channel affiliated to persons from the PSRM. It was taken in cash from the bank. Later, the persons who received this money in the form of a loan paid dues to the PSRM. The question is, how legal these transactions are? There are relevant documents and the investigation should be thus completed in a transparent way so that we know if it was a political case of not,” stated the expert.

Civic activist Nicolae Josan noted that Alexandr Stoianoglo will find with difficulty prosecutors with character and courage who would investigate this case as well. According to him, Viorel Morari, who launched the investigation into the funding for the PSRM, is an example of how prospectors are being scared.

The APO requested the State Tax Service to provide documents concerning the financing of the PSRM, including those that refer to settlements, taxes and fines and those on the donations made to the party compiled by the CEC, in connection with a criminal case started over money laundering that involves a media company associated with the PSRM.