Thursday, April 3, is set for the ruling in the lawsuit filed by notary Olga Bondarciuc against the Ministry of Justice, following the revocation of her license three years ago. The disciplinary sanction is linked to another case that has been pending in the first instance court since 2022. The notary is accused of forgery in public documents. According to law enforcement authorities, Bondarciuc notarized several documents that were used in the banking fraud scheme.

On the same day, April 3, the examination of the case in which Bondarciuc is accused of forgery in public documents will continue. The trial began at the end of October 2022, but most court hearings have either been postponed or interrupted. At the request of the defense, a motion to recuse Judge Tudor Stambol was filed but was later denied.

Prosecutors charge Olga Bondarciuc with “knowingly committing actions that facilitated the translation and legalization of documents necessary for the elements involved in the so-called banking fraud scheme, committing forgery in public documents, making false statements before the investigative authority, and hiding certain notarial actions related to offshore companies of the criminal organization, through which money from the banking fraud was allegedly laundered.”

Attorney Alexandru Tonu, who is defending Olga Bondarciuc in court, claims that the prosecutors lack evidence to prove the alleged illegal actions of his client.

“What I can say is that there is no evidence incriminating my client. The attempt to portray her in the media as ‘Plahotniuc’s notary’ is completely false. She is, first and foremost, a professional, and many people have used her services. She herself requested extradition and is innocent. Our interest is to reach a conclusion as soon as possible so that my client can be acquitted,” Alexandru Tonu stated for Anticoruptie.md.

On July 15, 2022, Olga Bondarciuc was extradited to Moldovan authorities after being arrested in Brussels in September 2021, nearly four months after an international warrant was issued for her arrest.

The notary was extradited and handed over to the initiator of the search, the International Police Cooperation Directorate of the General Police Inspectorate, at Chișinău International Airport.

In its request to the General Secretariat of INTERPOL, the General Police Inspectorate stated that Olga Bondarciuc “worked as a notary and acted in the interests of the criminal organization created and led by Vladimir Plahotniuc, being charged with committing forgery in public documents and making false statements.”

A day earlier, then-Minister of Justice Sergiu Litvinenco signed an order revoking the notary’s license.

“As part of the effort to clean up the legal professions under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice and the zero-tolerance policy towards irresponsible behavior, I announce the application of a disciplinary sanction in the form of revocation of the notary license of Olga Bondarciuc, who was operating in Chișinău,” read a statement from the Ministry of Justice.

The order was based on the decision of the Notary Disciplinary Board, which cited multiple violations committed by notary Olga Bondarciuc that were subject to disciplinary liability.

Olga Bondarciuc’s name appears in the Kroll 2 report, as she was one of the shareholders of Unibank after borrowing several million lei. Bondarciuc operated in the Global Business Center (GBC) building, which was owned by Vladimir Plahotniuc. The notary stated that all the documents she issued complied with the applicable laws.