DOC// Femida, "impassive" to the complaints of ex-prosecutor Andrei Băeșu

Viorica Mija
29/06/2023
Colaj CIJM

Andrei Băeșu, a former prosecutor who was criminally investigated for interfering in the conduct of a criminal prosecution related to a bank fraud investigation, has lost the judicial duel with the General Prosecutor's Office in the Court of Appeal. Băeșu has demanded in court the cancellation of the resignation order signed by the suspended General Prosecutor, Alexandr Stoianoglo, and has declared that he was subjected to pressure and threats. The ex-prosecutor was the subject of an investigation by the Center for  Investigative Journalism (CIJM) regarding a case of bribery allegedly covered up by law enforcement officers. In another CIJM investigation involving the prosecutor, journalists revealed that he receives thousands of euros in donations every year.

In the application he submitted to the court, where he seeks the declaration of nullity of the resignation order, Băeșu complains that he was compelled by the circumstances to submit a report. He claims that he was even summoned to the office of the General Prosecutor to submit his resignation voluntarily, under the threat of being "exposed based on the criminal files."

However, the lower court magistrates ruled that the dismissal order, based on the submitted report, was issued within the limits of the authority established by the law, in compliance with the legal procedure, and in accordance with the provisions of the current legislation. They found no evidence to the contrary.

Andrei Băeșu has filed an appeal against the first court's decision. Nevertheless, the judges have rejected his appeal, deeming it unfounded.

The state prosecutor came to the attention of the public in 2017 when he handled the case of Veaceslav Platon. At the request of Andrei Băeșu, the judges imposed an 18-year prison sentence on Veaceslav Platon, to be served in a closed penitentiary, and ordered the confiscation of assets worth over 800 million lei.

In 2020, the then General Prosecutor, Alexandr Stoianoglo, announced that the case in which Veaceslav Platon was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in bank fraud was to be reviewed. This decision came after it was discovered that the main beneficiary of the bank fraud was the former leader of the Democrats, Vladimir Plahotniuc, and that the criminal case in which Veaceslav Platon was convicted had allegedly been falsified.

Băeșu, who was the prosecutor in the Platon case, along with Viorel Morari, the former head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, and Adriana Bețişor, Morari's former deputy, are accused of interfering in the criminal prosecution of the bank fraud investigation.

All three individuals plead not guilty, and Morari commented for Anticoruptie.md that "the fact that Platon informed, and the General Prosecutor's Office confirmed, indicates that there is a close connection between Stoianoglo and Platon and that the release of the one involved in both the billion-dollar case and the Russian laundromat case."

The situation took another turn in October 2022 when the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office announced that businessman Veaceslav Platon had allegedly paid the suspended General Prosecutor, Alexandru Stoianoglo, over 63 million lei to secure his release from prison and the dismissal of the case in which he had been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The case was sent to court, and Stoianoglo is now facing charges of abuse of office, passive corruption, and false statements. The prosecutors state in the indictment that the release of the convicted Veaceslav Platon and the dropping of charges resulted in a loss of 869,224,839.76 lei to the national public budget.

Alexandr Stoianoglo pleads not guilty.

Viorica Mija
29/06/2023




Textele de pe pagina web a Centrului de Investigații Jurnalistice www.anticoruptie.md sunt realizate de jurnaliști, cu respectarea normelor deontologice și sunt protejate de dreptul de autor. Preluarea textelor știrilor și a investigațiilor jurnalistice se realizează în limita maximă de 500 de semne. În mod obligatoriu, în cazul paginilor web (portaluri, agenții, instituţii media sau bloguri) trebuie indicat şi linkul direct la articolul preluat de pe www.anticoruptie.md în primul alineat, iar în cazul posturilor de radio și TV – se citează obligatoriu sursa.

Preluarea integrală a textelor se poate realiza doar în condiţiile unui acord prealabil semnat cu Centrul de Investigații Jurnalistice.



Follow us on Telegram

Comments