Magistrates of the Chisinau Court, Ciocana seat, have extended the preventive measure in the form of provisional release under judicial control for 60 days for former defector Sergiu Sirbu, who is under investigation in a criminal case of illicit enrichment.

In a comment to Ziarul de Gardă, Mariana Cherpec, spokeswoman for the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG), said that “considering that the magistrates did not take away the obligation of the former MP not to leave the locality where he resides, the prosecutor of the case has appealed the judges’ decision”.

“(…) Yesterday, as a result of the examination, the magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeal rejected the appeal filed by the prosecutor (…)”, Mariana Cherpec said.

The former MP is accused of committing offences under Article 330/2 and Article 325(2) of the Criminal Code – illicit enrichment and active corruption.

Previously, ZdG wrote about the multimillion-dollar fortunes and business dealings of former defector MPs under criminal investigation for illicit enrichment.

Sergiu Sîrbu, who left the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) in 2012 and has since moved through several political parties, was found by ANI to have unjustified wealth worth 1.9 million lei accumulated between 2016 and 2019. The financial resources were found on Sîrbu’s bank accounts, having been deposited in cash. He also failed to declare income totalling more than 1 million lei, included erroneous data about income obtained in the form of donations and cash he lent to an individual. He also allegedly held hundreds of thousands of lei and tens of thousands of euros in cash, which he misstated, according to the statement.

Recently, former defector Sergiu Sîrbu obtained, in court, the annulment of the act issued by ANI, which found that he had unjustified assets of over 1.9 million lei. The case reached the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), which in mid-July this year upheld the decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal (CA), which declared inadmissible the application in which the National Integrity Authority (ANI) requested the confiscation of the “unjustified wealth” of the former defector MP, amounting to 1.9 million lei.

The thirteen former MPs, suspected of illicit enrichment, are former Communist MPs who in December 2015 left the parliamentary faction of the PCRM and subsequently created a social-democratic platform, which then shortly after joined the Democratic Party of the Republic of Moldova in Parliament.

On 2 February 2022, prosecutors from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and officers from the Intelligence and Security Service raided the homes of 13 former MPs. The raids were carried out in the framework of the investigation into the illicit enrichment of 13 former members of the Moldovan Parliament and concerned 47 real estate assets and 13 cars.