The General Prosecutor’s Office has sent to court the criminal case involving the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Viorel Morari. He is accused of abuse of power, false in public documents and the interference in the criminal prosecution. Later on, the Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo, gave details of the case. Later on, Stoianoglo announced that Morari is investigated in another case for illicit enrichment and money laundering in special proportions, using his position as head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. After he was freed from pre-trial detention and placed under judicial supervision, Morari declared that the state is semi-captured. 

Viorel Morari, Former Head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office was detained following a control organized by the new Prosecutor General, Alexandr Stoianoglo. 

Morari was firstly accused in one case linked with the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc and controversial businessman, Veceslav Platon. In February 2020, the prosecutors open an investigation into Morari’s assets, suspecting him and his relatives of being involved in illicit activities.  In case he is found guilty Morari will have to serve seven years in prison. 

The first file of the suspended head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office

According to the indictment, at the end of December 2016, the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, received, personally, from the fugitive oligarch, Vladimir Plahotniuc, a complaint, dated December 26, 2016. 

In the complaint, Plahotniuc requested for former deputy Veceslav Platon to be brought to criminal liability, for a slanderous complaint, filed by Platon at Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

According to Stoianoglo, Plahotniuc’s complaint was brought to the headquarters of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office by the head of this specialized prosecutor’s office, who, however, forgot about this denunciation until March 2017.

Stoianoglo states that, in March 2017, in order to hide his negligence in relation to the functional attributions, being aware that the complaint does not meet the legal requirements, Viorel Morari asked a subordinate to register Plahotniuc’s complaint with the date of December 28, 2016. Morari also ordered, by a resolution, as with an amended date, the examination of Plahotniuc’s complaint by a prosecutor of Morari’s subordination.

Plahotniuc’s request leads to Platon’s prosecution

According to Stoianoglo, the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office ordered an anticorruption prosecutor, previously selected to start the criminal prosecution (with the date modified by documents, this being December 30, 2016) regarding Veaceslav Platon for slanderous denunciation.

The prosecutor dealing with Platon’s case had to prepare and present to the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office all the documents that will allow Platon’s prosecution. The prosecutor was assured that the date of the criminal prosecution registration is a purely technical thing. 

The General Prosecutor also stated that Morari would’ve misled the then-Prosecutor General and made him sign the ordinance establishing jurisdiction for the exercise of the criminal prosecution of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. 

Gaining the competence to exercise the criminal prosecution, the head of the anticorruption prosecutor’s office Viorel Morari signed the order establishing the criminal investigation group, applied the stamp on the corresponding statistical file, the crime being put on the official criminological record.

Thus, as a result of these actions, all the complaints and statements filed before and after by Veaceslav Platon against Plahotniuc were classified by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office as false and slanderous, without intervening with checks on the facts reported, repeatedly, by him, according to Stoianoglo’s statements.

The case opened in Plahotniuc’s name in Romania 

When Platon filed the complaint against Plahotniuc at DIICOT for crimes of fraud, blackmail, money laundering, illegally taking shares of banks and commercial companies in Moldova, such as Victoriabank, Banca de Economii, Asito, Victoria Asigurări, and Alfa Engineering, he also mentioned the names of other people close to Plahotniuc. 

Although the file reached the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office on April 27, 2018, no procedural action in relation to the persons referred in the file submitted by the Romanian colleagues was carried out. The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office only heard Platon as a witness, whose statements were each time labeled false and slanderous.

Stoianoglo claims that the main purpose of these actions was Morari’s interest, to maintain his political and protective support from fugitive oligarch Plahotniuc, with whom he personally met.

Stoianoglo said that Plahotniuc was in conflict with Veceslav Platon, who represented an imminent danger to Plahotniuc’s image, reputation, and rating and for the Democratic Party. 

Platon filed several notices and statements in criminal proceedings against Vladimir Plahotniuc, namely:

– the complaint of August 2, 2016, addressed to DIICOT from Romania, requesting that Plahotniuc, Candu, Iaralov, Andronachi, and other persons be charged with criminal liability;

– incriminating statements regarding Plahotniuc filed on September 9, 13 and 14, 2016 in the file managed by the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office;

– the denunciation of October 31, 2016, asking the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office to examine and criminally investigate Plahotniuc, Candu, Drăguțan, Politova, Iaralov and others, who would have stolen a billion dollars from Moldova’s banking system.  

Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office never interrogated Plahotniuc

As of autumn 2016, the Anti-corruption Prosecutor’s Office had concrete information on the involvement of Vladimir Plahotniuc and his entourage in the theft of the billion, but the former Democratic Party leader was never interrogated by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office.

Stoianoglo claimed that Morari protected Plahotniuc and other public officials close to the fugitive oligarch by falsifying documents at the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, which lead avoidance of investigating the allegations related to the theft of the century brought to Plahotniuc and other public officials. 

Former Prosecutor General, Eduard Harunjen interrogated in Morari’s case

The former Prosecutor General, Eduard Harunjen, and one of former Morari’s subordinates are witnesses in the file. And because the prosecutors didn’t find that their actions were committed out of material or other personal interests they will remain witnesses. These findings are the mandatory elements to legally frame the act as a crime. 

According to Stoianoglo, the two witnesses did not know about the purpose pursued by the former head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Thus, the subordinated prosecutor’s denunciation and the material evidence presented by him determined the basis for starting the criminal prosecution in this case.

Another file in Morari’s name

While in pre-trial detention, and the file in which he is suspected of abuse of office and false in public documents has already been sent to the judges’ table, prosecutors have opened a new file to the suspended head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Viorel Morari. 

According to Stoianoglo, Viorel Morari has already been heard and is a suspect in a new file opened for illicit enrichment and money laundering in very large proportions, using his position. On the other hand, Morari denies the allegations brought against him and claims that this file puts pressure on his relatives.

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the basis for initiating the new file on behalf of Morari served journalistic materials, verified and confirmed in the criminal case by the authorized state institutions, which related to the disproportionate character of the revenues declared by the former chief prosecutor of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office in relation to the real material situation of the members of his family and relatives.

The criminal investigation related to this case was initiated in December 2019. According to it the persons behind Irarom-group, which backward reads Morari – the surname of the suspect, along with other intermediaries and legal entities would’ve been implicated in criminal financial activities between 2013-2019.

They would’ve been responsible for money laundering, illicit enrichment, as well as other predicated related offenses not just in Moldova but also in other European states such as Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, Canada and Ukraine. 

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the people who founded and managed Irarom-group invested in the business during 2013-2019, financial means that substantially exceeded the officially registered incomes of state-enabled institutions. 

The ones who founded and were managing the company are Morari’s brother and mother. 

Prosecutors point out that although during 2013 – 2014, the prosecutor’s mother, Eugenia Morari, obtained official incomes of about 130 euros (2,500 lei), in 2014 she carried out nine transactions of depositing cash on the bank’s account of the company, “ for the increase of the statutory capital.

 ”In a total amount of around 198,000 euros (3.8 million lei). Subsequently, in 2014 the company “Irarom-Grup” built and put into operation, in the prosecutor’s village, a filling station with petroleum products and liquefied gas, the value of the object constituting around 182,000 euros (3.5 million lei).

Starting with 2015, the company “Irarom-Grup” develops the activity regarding the production, transport, distribution, and commercialization of electricity, and between 2016 and 2018, it installs, in the north of Moldova, three installations for the production of energy from wind renewable sources, the total value of the investments being over 738,000 euros (14.2 million lei). According to the financial statements for 2016 – 2017, the company declares a profit of over 338,000 euros (6.5 million lei). 

At the request of the company director and after the intervention of Viorel Morari, the Board of Directors of the National Agency for Regulation of the Energy prices would have approved and maintained a tariff of 6 cents (1.13 lei) / kW, increasing the capacity of the installation from 1300 kW to 3900 kW.

“For comparison, for 10 other similar companies, ANRE has approved tariffs between 4 cents and 5 cents (0.68 – 1.01 lei / kW for electricity from wind power with a capacity of 1300 kW and more, “ says PG.

State prosecutors also investigated investments in real estate of the family, parents and the prosecutor’s brother. 

According to Prosecutor General, during the years 2013-2018:

• The prosecutor’s mother obtained an official income of about 5,900 euros (113,000 lei
• The father – official income in the amount of about 2400 euros (46,000 lei
• The brothers – official income in the amount of about 41,000 euros (786,000 lei 

However, between 2012 and 2019, his parents, having no other sources of income than those officially indicated, being permanently on the territory of Moldova purchased 4 buildings in Chisinau, estimated at over 179,000 euros. 

In the period 2013-2019, the prosecutor’s mother came into possession of 25 lands for agricultural use, for constructions and garden with a total area of ​​18 hectares, 2 dwelling houses and accessory constructions with a total area of ​​192 sqm – all estimated at about 28 000 Euro.

In the period 2015-2018, his brother bought/received 87 agricultural and construction land donations with a total area of ​​45 ha, 1 house of 93 sqm and 1 accessory construction with a surface of 10 sqm, their market value, at the time of purchase, being about 50,000 euro. 

” At the same time, the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, together with the person with whom he is in civil marriage – like the prosecutor, they do not own any immovable or movable property, including any of the cars he has used since the year 2014 ”, underlines PG.

Previously, the National Integrity Authority carried out a check on the revenues and properties of Viorel Morari, but did not find any irregularities, although all the information presented by the SIS and the Money Laundering and Prevention Service indicated the opposite.

“We specify that the actions of the members of the family of the former head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and of the legal entity SRL” Irarom-Grup “are investigated in another criminal case, in the aspect of the crime of” money laundering “, the Prosecutor’s Office announces.

The procedure for establishing the tariff for electricity, delivered by “Irarom Grup”, is also being investigated in the criminal prosecution, because the Prosecutor’s Office already has statements regarding the involvement of the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office in this process. 

According to Prosecutor General, these aspects, in conjunction with other administered tests, have determined the carrying out of specialized controls by the profile institutions and the appointment of an expert in the field. After carrying out these activities, the criminal investigation body will decide whether this segment of activity of the company contains derogations from the law and will give appropriate legal assessment.

Ziarul de Gardă wrote in 2016 about the assets of Morari’s family, mentioning that the prosecutor’s parents own real estate and a company with millions of capital.

On February 14, 2020, Morari was freed from pre-trial detention and placed under judicial supervision. He declared that the state is semi-captured. 

“I had to fight. I didn’t do it during that time, now I started to fight and I showed you the consequences. My colleagues, with regret, following the example I am passing, took water in their mouths and I suspect that the procedure will last. Look at what is happening: some colleagues have left, some have warned them to leave. Now I’m alone in front of a whole machine. I do not complain, I do not want the help of anyone, I alone will manage, even if it will take 8-10 years ”, he concluded.