While Petru Merineanu, brother-in-law of former President Igor Dodon is in custody in the 13th penitentiary in the capital, reconstruction works are in full swing at the “Fata Morgana” guesthouse on the banks of the Dniester, which he bought last summer.

Locals are talking about the fact that the guesthouse could soon reopen its doors to the public, as the administration is looking for cooks for the newly built restaurant, right next to the river.

Villagers also say that before his arrest, Merineanu could be seen almost daily at the guesthouse in his home village of Molovata. Some say Igor Dodon, the former president, was also seen there several times.

The former president’s brother-in-law bought a guesthouse on the banks of the Dniester River

Officially, the pension “Fata Morgana”, located in the village of Molovata, Dubasari district, belongs to the company “Artic Nova” LTD, where Petru Merineanu is the founder and administrator. Land registry (Cadastre) data show that the land and the three two-storey cottages were sold by the former owner, Anatolie Cretu, to his company “Artic Nova” LTD in May 2021, and were registered at the land registry in June. Two months later, the company was sold to Petru Merineanu, brother-in-law of former President Igor Dodon.

Also in May 2021, “Artic Nova” LTD bought the land and the main building of the guesthouse, but the building was not registered at the Cadastre in the name of the new owner until February 2022. This is because the old building was demolished and a new one was built and fitted out in its place.

Construction work still in full swing after prosecutors’ raids

On May 27th, we went to Molovata, the home village of former first lady Galina Dodon and her brother Petru Merineanu respectively, to see the purchase he made last year. At the gates of “Fata Morgana”, where prosecutors carried out searches on the 24th of May, we noticed a statue with the message “Founder Anatol Crețu”, and on its grounds, we found several workers doing construction and irrigation works and assembling wooden pieces.

Guesthouse “Fata Morgana” is located 55 km away from Chisinau and 30 km from Orhei. It has three two-storey cottages. Next door is a building that will serve as a kitchen for the two-level restaurant still under construction, and next to the future restaurant, also under construction, is another smaller building. A few metres away from these buildings there is a gazebo overlooking the waters of the Dniester. An old building can also be seen on the territory, which the workers told us is to be demolished.

“Mind your business. Don’t you know that a stone can fall on your forehead on the construction site?”

At the site we were met by two men. One of them told us that the guesthouse was closed because they were doing reconstruction work. He also told us that one of the newly built buildings next to the three two-storey cottages was to be the kitchen of the new restaurant. In fact, the kitchen is being built on the site where the main guesthouse building once stood. Asked who manages the guesthouse and whether it belongs, as stated in the documents, to Petru Merineanu, the man said he does not know.

Other workers on the site refused to tell us who hired them and who owns the guesthouse.

“Don’t ask, no one will answer. Mind your business. Don’t you know that a stone can fall on your forehead when you’re on the construction site?” one worker told us.

We also found workers on the land owned by the local public administration, located right on the bank of the Dniester River, near the “Fata Morgana” resort, now leased by Anatolie Cretu, the former owner of the recreational area.

Two young men that were busy assembling something out of wood avoided telling us who hired them and who will pay their wages.

“We’ve been working for two days and I have no idea who the owner is. We don’t know whose it is. We found it and hired ourselves. We’ll see in the end (who will pay, Ed),” said one young man.

“Dodon has been here too, and not just once”

If the workers found on the pension’s grounds were laconic, a local met nearby told us that both Merineanu and Dodon can often be seen on the road leading to the pension.

“Anatol Crețu was the master here. Maybe he sold it. But he was once master here. In fact, it was once said that he was not the master, but an African woman. I see him (Petru Merineanu, Ed.) around the village, but I haven’t seen him here for a long time. They often pass by. Dodon also passed by here, and not just once”, a local from Molovata told us.

“They say he gave one million”

A woman told us that people in the village are talking about the fact that the guesthouse was sold for a million euros and actually belongs to politician Igor Dodon.

“They were saying that it should open soon, cutting the red ribbon. But then this kerfuffle happened. Two weeks ago, a lady from the administration came in, but she didn’t say who she was representing – she was looking for female workers. She needed cooks, but not too skilled, because the qualified ones will come from Chișinău. She needed more simple ones, who could peel onions, potatoes, wash the floors. There will be a restaurant with 100 seats. People who live closer to it say that Dodon bought it. To keep a low profile, he put in charge his brother-in-law. They say he gave a million euros,” the woman told us.

“Yes, Merineanu is the boss there. He’s there all day long. He and his wife.”

Several locals told us that until he was arrested, Petru Merineanu could be seen at the guesthouse every day.

“I used to work there. Now I’m retired. At one point, I found out that he sold it. I wondered how could Mr Anatol sell – he worked so hard. I asked him a few times why he sold it – he just grumbled a bit and didn’t tell me (…) Yes, Merineanu is the boss there. He’s there all day long. He and his wife Larisa”, says the woman.

“Yes, last year it was bought by Dodon’s…his brother-in-law”, another woman added.

Asked where he would have got the money to make the purchase, locals told us that Merineanu had worked for many years in the Russian Federation.

“He’s been in Moscow since he finished school. In Moscow, in Leningrad. They say he also sold an apartment,” another woman said.

“Since they bought it, everything has been ruined.”

Another local woman was outraged by the fact that after the “Fata Morgana” guesthouse was bought by Merineanu, villagers no longer have access to the Dniester.

“It was a field there. In 2007, Mr Anatol Cretu bought it and did the construction works. Until last year it was his, last year Merineanu bought them. It can’t be Dodon’s. That’s where Mr Anatol Crețu belonged. It was very nice there. But since last year… since they bought it, it’s all gone wrong. People used to go there to rest, there was a free pool. Now we don’t even have access to the Nistru to wash our feet”, the woman told us.

Ex-President Dodon’s wife pays 25 thousand euro in cash as deposit for “kitchen equipment”.

During the raids carried out by prosecutors on Tuesday 24 May at the home of former President Igor Dodon, several objects, documents and money were seized. Among them was a receipt showing that Igor Dodon’s wife, Galina Dodon, offered a sum of 25 thousand euros for the purchase of professional kitchen equipment, including a stove and a steam oven.

ZdG has found that the cash was a transaction between Galina Dodon and Dumitru Stanchevici, who owns several companies, including “Horecagrup” LTD, which imports several types of goods, including kitchen equipment. The man told us that the technical specifications of the machines were discussed with Petru Merineanu.

After the goods were imported to Moldova, the 25 thousand euros were returned to Galina Dodon and the modern kitchen equipment was paid by bank transfer by the company owned by Petru Merineanu, “Artic Nova” LTD.

Dodon’s brother-in-law tried to swallow a receipt

Prosecutors announced that during the searches Igor Dodon’s brother-in-law tried to destroy, by swallowing, the documents found at his home, confirming sale-purchase transactions of real estate worth about 700 thousand euros. In the same circumstances, prosecutors and officers found about 37 thousand euros, which were kept at Petru Merineanu’s home.

In a message on a social network posted on the day of the arrest, Igor Dodon wrote that his brother-in-law had worked abroad for more than 20 years, sold his apartment in Moscow and launched a business in his home village, “thus creating several dozen jobs”. He also said that his family does not own any real estate in Molovata.