At least four people, including the former interim mayor of the capital Silvia Radu, are suspects in the money laundering case in which anti-corruption prosecutors and National Anti-Corruption Centre (CNA) officers raided on Monday morning, 15 August. NAC officers and prosecutors are investigating more than €2 million allegedly collected by the suspects.

Also detained in this case is the former director of the Civil Aviation Authority (AAC), Eugeniu Coștei, according to ZdG law enforcement sources. According to prosecutors, the former head of the AAC, who worked until January 2021 in the Authority, is suspected that, together with other former employees of the aviation entity and a former mayor of the capital, he committed the crime of money laundering in particularly large proportions.

According to the case materials, the four persons under investigation allegedly worked for an aviation consultancy company and signed several contracts with similar entities abroad. During the prosecution, it was found that the money received for the services would have gone into the accounts of the Moldovan company, but also into the accounts of offshore companies. Subsequently, the money that had ended up offshore would have been distributed to the accounts of several puppet companies in order to legalize its origin. Finally, the laundered funds ended up on the personal cards of the four suspects.

At this stage, CNA officers and prosecutors are investigating a sum of more than €2 million, which was cashed in by the company’s beneficiaries. Part of this would not have been reported to the tax authorities in the Republic of Moldova, but was concealed through the use of offshore banking systems. Investigations carried out by the CNA and the PA also identified that several companies involved in the fraudulent transactions of the company were linked to the money laundering investigated in the “bank fraud” and “Laundromat” cases.

This morning, criminal prosecutions were carried out at the homes of the suspects. The former director of the CAA has been detained for 72 hours and three others are to be questioned.

Former interim mayor of the capital Silvia Radu, who has the status of a suspect in this case, claims that she “knows nothing about the transactions” carried out by several companies in the aviation sector, described by prosecutors as “fraudulent”.

In a post on her Facebook page, the former official says she “did not sign contracts, did not make or receive payments” and the suspicions against her are “absolutely unfounded”.

“I did not participate in the bank fraud or the theft of the billion,” Silvia Radu wrote.

The former interim mayor also says she “recognises the right of the competent state bodies to investigate suspicions of wrongdoing and is open to cooperate with the investigation”.

“But I condemn the way of doing this by damaging the public image and dignity of innocent people. I believe that such actions, without evidentiary support, violate human rights vehemently. I believe in the rule of law and hope that abuses will not be tolerated. I regret today’s situation and I hope that, as soon as possible, the competent authorities will be convinced that all these suspicions against me are absolutely unfounded”, Silvia Radu wrote.
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