​COURT INTERROGATES FIRST WITNESS ON VEACESLAV PLATON CASE

On Tuesday, the Sectorul Buiucani Court of Chisinau questioned the first witness for the prosecution on the case of businessman Veaceslav Platon being charged of financial machinations and money laundering. Victoriabank ex-President Natalia Politov-Cangas was summoned to the Court on the demand of the prosecution side.

For 3 hours, the lady banker was questioned by Judge Victor Boico, Lawyer Eduard Rudenco and Prosecutor Andrei Baiesu. Upon coming out of the judge’s office, she refused to explain anything, having only referred to the closed character of the process and the secret character of information.

Platon’s lawyer Eduard Rudenco said that Politov-Cangas provided very short replies to most of the defense’s questions: “I don't remember”.

“So, she does not remember who visited her, with what contracts, or what sums the contracts stipulated. The witness for the prosecution appears to be not able to remember even the names of the businesspeople who came to her. In her words, she remembers only that credits were issued all right and the money went according to destination. In conclusion, Natalia Politov-Cangas stated that for most of the time concerned she was not available in Moldova”, said the lawyer.

He underscored that the first witness for the prosecution was interviewed in the absence of defendant Platon.

“It may well happen so that Mr. Platon will not be delivered to the courthouse till the announcement of verdict in this first-instance court. Such is the Moldovan legislation and such is the Court’s decision. On Monday, we were permitted to hold a meeting with Veaceslav Platon that lasted one hour. He was examined by doctors who drew up a protocol of beating registration. There were blows on Platon’s body. For the time being, the Court will be considering the Platon case in his absence”, said the lawyer.

The next witness on the waiting list is Victoriabank Board Chairman Corneliu Ghimpu [a nephew of Liberal Party Chairman Mihai Ghimpu].

Infotag’s dossier: Veaceslav Platon was declared by the Moldovan Prosecutor General’s Office as an internationally wanted person last July 25, and already a few hours later he was detained in Kiev city by Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers.

On August 30, in pursuance of the Kiev Pecherskii Court decision, Platon was delivered to Chisinau on board somebody’s private (!) airplane.

In Chisinau, Platon is being accused of involvement in and coordination of money theft from Banca de Economii [BEM, savings bank], in particular of his receiving and non-returning of bank credits totaling 800 million lei (US$20 million). Platon is also suspected of having a finger in the siphoning off more than US$20 billion from Russia over to offshore zones via Moldovan banks.

Thus, former National Anti-Corruption Center (NACC) officer Mikhail Gofman told the law enforcement about the laundering of more than US$23 billion of the Russian origin through Moldovan banks. And the Russian Ministry of the Interior stated officially that in 2015 alone, US$10.9 billion was illicitly removed from Russia by using the “Moldovan scheme”.

In that year, the Russian MoI published the list of 19 Russian banks involved in the so-called “Moldovan scheme” of money laundering. All in all, more than 700 billion Russian rubles were withdrawn, which sum is equivalent to US$49 billion according to then-exchange rates. That scheme involved also several Moldovan banks controlled by Veaceslav Platon.