Iurii Luncașu, a businessman close to defeated oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc and wanted politician Ilan Shor was found dead on August 17. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. The Buiucani Prosecutor’s Office initially opened a first-degree murder case, but also declared that the most likely cause of death was suicide. 

Information about Iurii Luncașu’s death was released in the press the morning of August 18. He had died the night before. Details quickly emerged about the circumstances surrounding his death and the possibility that it was a suicide.

According to Luncașu’s friend, it’s possible that he was driven to kill himself, given the emotional stress he was experiencing as a result of what he claimed were unfounded accusations recently published in the press, and the fact that he was facing the progression of multiple sclerosis; a disease he had been diagnosed with twenty years ago. 

However after only two days of investigating the suspicious death as a murder/suicide, the interim Prosecutor General, Dumitru Robu, ordered that the case be transferred to the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS). 

Suicide Note: “I bought the White House in 2017”

The news portal noi.md was the first to publish information about the case. The portal wrote that at 8:07 p.m. on August 17, Luncașu’s driver Boris Babin called 112 for emergency response services, saying that his boss shot himself in the head on the side of the Ialoveni-Durlești road.

According to the source, Luncașu’s driver made a declaration to law enforcement stating that at approximately 7:00 p.m. that same night, his boss contacted him by telephone. Luncașu asked him to come to his home and take him for a drive (to an unknown destination), to get some fresh air. The driver took his work car to Luncașu’s house, where he picked up Luncașu and then headed for the Ialoveni-Durlești road. At one point, Luncașu asked the driver to stop the car in a field, and to write a letter saying “I bought the White House in 2017, I was an investor.” 

According to the driver’s statement, his boss then got out of the car and told him (the driver) that he wanted to get out and get some fresh air.
He shot himself in the head shortly afterwards with an Astra type 6.35 caliber gun (serial number: 85034). He died as a result of the injuries he received.

Mass Media Officer for the Chisinău Police, Natalia Stati, confirmed for ZdG that Luncașu’s driver made the 112 call to the emergency services at 8:07 p.m.

The so-called “White House” mentioned in the letter is an imposing building complex at the foot of Valea Morilor park in downtown Chișinău. It is owned by Business Agreement – a company that Investar Investment Limited took over in 2017, under the representation of Iurii Luncașu.

Suicide: the main suspect in the first degree murder case

The Buiucani Prosecutor’s Office initially opened a criminal case for first degree murder, stating that although the main version of the events is a suspected suicide, this is considered one of three possibilities being investigated. The other two are first-degree murder and someone pushing Luncașu to kill himself.  

According to the Head of the Chișinău Prosecutor’s Office, Ștefan Șaptefraț, Luncașu’s driver Boris Babin is considered a witness in the case at this point, because he was the one who called the emergency services to say that his boss had shot himself. 

That being said, Șaptefraț also confirmed that Babin is the father of the young man responsible for killing Teodor Țăranu (the son of the political analyst Anatol Țăranu) in the summer of last year.

“This means nothing,“ Șaptefraț said. 

The head of the Buiucani Prosecutor’s Office, Eduard Mașnic, said that Babin testified to the police and no interdiction was applied against him because these types of preventive measures can not be applied to witnesses. The prosecutor also mentioned that, in general, information on the witnesses is part of any investigation. 

  Case Transferred to the PCCOCS

After two days of investigation, the interim Prosecutor General, Dumitru Robu, decided to transfer the case from the Buiucani Office of the Prosecutor General to the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS). 

“Considering the complex character of the criminal case, which required the involvement of representatives of other law enforcement bodies, and in order to ensure the operative and objective investigation of the circumstances of the case, it was ordered to send the file for the continuation of the criminal prosecution in the PCCOCS,” the Prosecutor General explained. 

He said that different versions of the case are being checked at this time, but that there is no suspect, considering that it is only the third day of the case investigation.

When asked about why the file was transferred to the PCCOCS, Prosecutor Denis Rotaru said that the Prosecutor’s Office has experience with such cases and that the file would be one of increased public interest. The head of the Buiucani Prosecutor’s Office, Eduard Mașnic, mentioned the same reasons when asked about the case was being moved to PCCOCS. 

When asked why a first-degree murder case was opened despite the fact that Luncașu’s death is believed to be a suicide, the PCCOCS interim chief Denis Rotaru stated that this was done, firstly, because the criminal prosecution on this article allows law enforcement personnel to carry out more criminal prosecution possibilities and to investigate all versions, including suicide or that someone pushed to kill himself.

“Certain witnesses were heard, other witnesses were set to be heard in the near future. More expertise has been formed. More research, more exams to follow. We have a criminal prosecution group. We have established an action plan, very concrete, which we are already executing,” Said Prosecutor Denis Rotaru, adding that this is the only information he can make public with regards to the investigation into Iurii Luncașu’s death case. 

Interior Minister responds to the suspicious death 

Interior Minister Năstase said that he was surprised that this case appeared in public discussion immediately after it happened and that someone carefully tried to give credit to a “single hypothesis” about the circumstances surrounding Luncașu’s death.

According to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Andrei Năstase, “such statements are part of a well developed scenario [created] by forces hostile to our civilized, European path, which have been democratically disembarked from power and are suffering.”

“Do you think any of us or even the society aims for people in Plahotniuc’s circle to shoot bullets in their heads? No! The people want the culprits to stand trial, to answer for the illegalities committed and, of course, to have their assets confiscated,” the Minister said in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

Plahotniuc’s message on social media

On August 20, Iurie Luncașu, was buried at the Saint Lazăr Cemetery. On the same day, the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc – a close friend of the late Iurie Luncașu – posted a message of condolence on his Facebook page. 

“True friends are counted on one hand, they are the family you choose. Deep sadness and an emptiness that cannot be filled. Rest in peace, my dear and good friend,” Plahotniuc wrote, without mentioning a name. 

According to the prosecutors, Luncașu’s relatives requested that they give statements after the funeral. 

Statements from Iurii Luncașu’s friend 

Iurii Luncașu’s family claims that they don’t exclude the possibility that someone drove him to suicide, given that he was facing the progress of the disease multiple sclerosis and was suffering from the emotional impact of what they claimed were unfounded accusations that have been published in the press lately. 

Igor Fraihman, a friend of Iurii Luncașu and of his family, stated during a press conference:  

“Of course, I am not a doctor, but I am sure that stress has only aggravated his condition. Recently, in several mass media there appeared unfounded accusations against Iurii, which greatly aggravated his physical and psycho-emotional state. In fact, he was very worried about these publications,” said Igor Fraihman, specifying that Iurii Luncașu was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis twenty years ago.

Igor Fraihman also said that the family hired a lawyer who will analyze all the misinformation published in the press that could have generated tragic consequences.

According to him, because of the false information disseminated in the public space about Iurii Luncașu, such as him being a relative of Vlad Plahotniuc, or that he would have done business with the Tiraspol Sheriff’s holding chief, Victor Guşan, or that he had business in cigarette production.

At the same time, he gave assurances that there were “no pressures either professionally, financially or otherwise” that could have caused the businessman to commit suicide.

Igor Fraihman also stated that Iurii Luncașu “had no political ambition, but that any great businessman, from any country in the world, always of course maintained high-level connections.” However, he did not specify what “high-level connections” Iurii Luncașu may have had.

The family is willing to collaborate with the investigation to clarify the circumstances of Luncașu’s death.