Angela Sanduta is from Ialoveni but she lives and works in Chişinău. She has no property or cars registered in her name, no business of her own and has never lived in luxury. Then one day she found out she had an outstanding debt to the state of approximately 3 million lei (€152,000) – an amount that doubled after calculation of additional penalties and fines for non-payment.

Mrs. Sanduta was on friendly terms with Olga Butnaru, the ex-wife of Vladislav Musteaţă, the former owner of the Pro Imobil Company. The latter eventually requested Mrs. Sanduta’ s help in selling several apartments under her name, maintaining that this is absolutely legal.

The woman knew nothing about the money. The money was always in the hands of the young men she met in the district where the apartments were bought or sold. She never read the contracts she signed because it was not her money and she knew she was doing it for Mr. Musteaţă. At the same time, many of the transactions were made without her knowledge. In September, Mrs. Sanduta obtained a paper from Vladislav Musteaţă proving that the beneficiaries of all the transactions were Mr. Musteaţă and the Pro Imobil Company.

After a year she received a citation from the Ialoveni State Tax Inspectorate. The Inspectorate established that during the years 2015-2016 157 real estate transactions amounting to over 72 million lei (€3,700,000) were registered in her name. According to the investigation Mrs. Sanduta owed to the state 3 million lei (€152,000 euros). 

Mrs. Sanduta appeared in a criminal case filed against Pro Imobil and Vladislav Musteaţă for tax evasion. It was opened in August 2017 by the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Causes (PCCOCS), and she was declared a witness. When her case arrived in Chişinău she got another citation stating that she must pay the state 6 million lei (€304,000) half of which constituted penalties. In November 2018, a criminal case was opened against her for tax evasion.

 ZdG: Have you ever had or seen 6 million lei (€304,000)? 

Angela Sanduta: I have never seen, held or had that kind of money. 

ZdG: You personally, did you have anything to gain from these 157 transactions? 

A.S.: No, I got nothing. I just did it because we were friends.

“He told me everything would be fine”

Svetlana Butnaru, Vladislav Musteaţă’s former mother-in-law, found herself in a similar situation. In 2016, at the request of her former son-in-law, she purchased, and later sold, 11 apartments. “I asked if everything was legal and whether I would have any problems. He told me that everything would be fine.”

Although Mrs. Butnaru agreed to help him, she did not want to get involved personally, so she offered Vladislav Musteaţă power of attorney.

A while later, Investigator Caminschi invited Mrs. Butnaru to the Prosecutor’s Office. There, she said that she had nothing to do with the apartments or the money they got from the transactions. She didn’t even know the location of the apartments. She wrote an explanation to Investigator Caminschi and one addressed to the prosecutor. Mrs. Butnaru was told that she was no longer a suspect in the case, but rather a witness. And she would have to come and testify against Musteaţă and ProImobil in the event that was a case file was opened.

“You have a house and it will be confiscated”

Tax inspectors later summoned Mrs. Butnaru to provide explanations for the transactions.

“They told me I had made 8 million lei (€405,000) in profits for which I did not pay taxes. He told me I bought 11 apartments. I told them it was Musteaţă’s money. They asked if there is any evidence. I suggested inviting Vlad and asking him if it’s his money or mine. I also mentioned that there are witnesses: Cunetchi Serghei and Ianis, who participated in the transactions. Perhaps the State Tax Service (STS) were not interested. They did not invite any witnesses and I was left to pay the 8 million lei tax debt,” she explained.

Because she owed 1.4 million lei (€70,900) the STS warned her that they would confiscate her family’s assets, as well as her house. “You have a house and it will be confiscated,” said the inspectors.

Mrs. Butnaru reached out to Investigator Caminschi  who assured her that the one responsible would pay. She visited the STS and told them the message from the Prosecutor’s Office. In official letters to the STS, Mrs. Butnaru insisted they call Mr. Musteaţă, but this was in vain. She was forced to pay 1.4 million lei so as not to lose her house. But she still wants her former son-in-law to bear the expenses since he was the one who earned the profits.

Musteaţă: “The amount was calculated randomly, incorrectly”

Vladislav Musteaţă is still active within Pro Imobil, the company he founded and officially ran until 2017. He left Moldova after the criminal case for tax evasion began and in the meantime, sold part of his business to people in the entourage of Dorin Damir – a godson of former Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc.

Referring to the case of the two ladies, Musteaţă admits to the company’s “collaboration” with them, while accusing tax inspectors of misinterpreting the amount of taxes the two women owed.

“I would do an analysis because I want to do it and, thank God, now the political situation allows it … Any tax expert would prove that the calculations made by STS, that amounted to millions to be paid by Mrs. Angela Sanduta, and by the company and by many other agents, are absolutely unacceptable in any normal state,” he said.

Musteaţă blames the “Plahotniuc regime” for the criminal charges against the company. “You’ve talked a lot about our firm, and if we link the two articles, you understand the reasons behind those crazy calculations which have nothing to do with reality. All decisions of the STS are made in courts and will be disputed until revoked,” Musteaţă stated.

According to the STS audit information, the institution used the “indirect method of estimating income.” This method of determining taxable income is estimated through an analysis of the tax situation of the individual in question, using information other than their tax records. Parliament introduced this  regulation into the Tax Code in 2011.

The women’s lawyer stated that most often, tax obligations are placed on people who do not have a real chance of honouring them. This is done to provide positive statistics rather than enrich the state budget. The STS is not interested in finding the real culprit, just someone to put the blame on. Although the ladies have presented evidence with the names of persons involved that could help ensure an effective investigation, the state has failed to secure them this right.

The STS said it could not provide information regarding the investigation carried out in the case of Svetlana Butnaru and Angela Sanduta as it is a “fiscal secret” and this information can only be made public after the expiration of all appeals. At the same time, we asked the STS to inform us about the amount of the fines and taxes  Vladislav Musteaţă paid in the last two years. The institution stated that Musteaţă paid taxes and late charges totaling approximately 5 million lei (€253,000 euros). 

At the beginning of the year, the Pro Imobil Group was also subject to a criminal case for tax evasion. Prosecutors intended to hear no less than 100 witnesses, including Angela Sanduta and Svetlana Butnaru. Stela Barba, the prosecutor responsible for the case, said that she cannot talk about the circumstances behind these cases, because there is a petition in court contesting the act STS issued. In the case of Angela Sanduta, the prosecutor advised her attorney to submit a request to the PCCOCS, with reference to the case she is managing and the one in  Ialoveni for a verification.

Valeriu Chitoroaga, a prosecutor in the Ialoveni district, says that the criminal file started in the name of Mrs. Sanduta was initiated after the STS notified the institution.

” [If] we carry out a criminal investigation and if the suspect is proven innocent, no problem, we classify the file. If there’s a similar decision at the PCCOCS, it means we stop and give it to the others,” the prosecutor explained.