The ex-Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoacă is accusing prosecutors and the “Plahotniuc-Dodon regime” of sitting on evidence that would exonerate him from the influence peddling charges in the so-called parking meters case.
Chirtoacă told a press conference on Monday that the prosecutors have been hiding documents that would contradict accounts of witnesses for the prosecution, and namely claims by municipal officials that in November-December 2015 they had received orders from the then-mayor to sign the parking meters deal.
But, Chirtoacă maintains, documents exist showing that already in May of that year a task group led by then-deputy mayor Nistor Grozavu adopted a Terms-of-Reference for the public-private-partnership deal. Chirtoacă sees in that document’s details, including the clause that Grozavu’s signature would be required to eventually seal the deal, compelling proof that a decision on the deal had already been made and he had had nothing to do with it.
“In other words, in May 2015, they already knew who with, when and how to sign the parking meters contract. Not in November, but in May. And May, as we all know, comes well before November. So, can anyone imagine any orders given in November, if in May already a decision had been taken to sign that contract?”, asked Chirtoacă rhetorically.
“So if I had been involved, as the prosecutors claim, having a slice of the pie, the kickbacks and all that, wouldn’t I had to be the capo dei capi from the very beginning? How do they explain that in May those guys do something in secret, and then I come in November to give them orders to continue the wrongdoing? That just doesn’t make sense!”
The former mayor claims that prosecutors are also hiding the fact that 200,000 euros were wasted by the actual culprits on a pre-contract feasibility study.
Dorin Chirtoacă has been prosecuted since May 2017 in a case where he is accused of facilitating a failed parking meter venture in exchange for undue benefits. The former mayor, who is also the president of the Liberal Party, has denied any charges as politically motivated.