The Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) announces on Tuesday, February 20, the referral of the second criminal case of former Moldovan Railways (CFM) chief Iurii Topala. He is alleged to have fraudulently leased locomotives from the left bank of the Dniester River, with damages of more than 5,000,000 lei, according to a press release issued by the PCCOCS.

The first court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday 28 February. The criminal case will be heard by Judge Ana Cucerescu.

More specifically, in the absence of an economic need established by the CFM, Iurii Topală allegedly exceeded his powers by concluding an additional agreement outside the procurement plan, on the grounds of organising the transport of goods on the Chisinau-Călărași-Etulia section, on the basis of a contract for leasing locomotives from a company in the Transnistrian region. As a result, the contract price was increased. At the same time, it also included a new type of locomotive which was not foreseen in the basic contact. As a result, the actions of the former director allegedly resulted in increased payments for services incurred by CFM, amounting to more than 5 000 000 lei.

As a result, PCCOCS prosecutors charged him with the offence of exceeding his official duties, and the Moldovan Railways brought a civil action to recover the considerable financial damage caused by the former director. The Buiucani court in Chisinau will now examine the case in the light of the Criminal Code, which provides for a fine of up to 57 500 lei or imprisonment of up to 3 years, in both cases with deprivation of the right to hold certain posts or to carry out certain activities for a period of 2 to 5 years.

The defendant is now obliged to appear before the law enforcement authorities at their request, and until a final judgment is handed down, the defendant is presumed innocent by law.

With regard to the criminal case brought against him following his extradition from Belgium, with damages of more than 400 000 000 lei, including for favouring two companies providing transport services, jointly with other members of the organised criminal group, being the actual beneficiaries. In that criminal case, seizures of approximately €1 000 000 were imposed.

ZdG reported in October 2023 that former CFM chief Iurii Topala, indicted for abuse of office, was allowed to leave Moldova, although almost a year ago he was extradited from Belgium. Specifically, he left the country twice for medical reasons at the time, “after which he returned and appeared in court,” according to spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) Emil Gaitur.

Topala was placed under judicial control in March 2023. Earlier, the court rejected the PCCOCS prosecutors’ request to extend his pre-trial detention and ordered him to be placed under house arrest in January 2023.

The PCCOCS announced on 21 December 2022 the indictment of former CFM director Yurii Topala, extradited in early November from Belgium on two counts in the case against the company he headed.

In the course of the prosecution, PCCOCS prosecutors, together with employees of the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency, identified and seized movable and immovable assets of both the accused and the interlocutors, which were located in Moldova, but also in foreign jurisdictions such as Romania and Belgium.

“Prosecutors accuse the former director of the fact that as a result of his exceeding his duties, the company did not collect revenues of almost 800 million lei. This, in turn, did not allow to cover the internal losses recorded by CFM from other activities, which caused the company’s assets considerable damage of almost 100 million lei, resulting from net losses in 2018 and 2019,” according to PCCOCS.

Former CFM chief Iurii Topala, detained in January 2022 by INTERPOL officers in Belgium, was extradited to Moldova on 3 November 2022. On 4 November 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) announced that Iurii Topala’s lawyers had challenged for the third time at the Chisinau Court of Appeal the 30-day pre-trial arrest warrant of 29 July 2021 in his name.

Iurii Topala, a former municipal councillor and an exponent of the Liberal Party, led the CFM from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, Ziarul de Gardă wrote that Topală owns a thriving business in the road sector – “Ruta-Prim” Ltd. – which manages in Chisinau the routes: 113, 135, 186, 188, 192 – with more than 240 minibus units and about 25 buses on route 22 and the Chisinau-Grătiești route.