TRANSNISTRIAN EX-MINISTER PLACED IN PRETRIAL PRISON

The unrecognized Transnistrian Moldovan republic (PMR) investigation committee confirmed that former head of customs committee, ex-minister of the interior Gennady Kuzmichev was detained by Transnistria’s law enforcement agencies and placed in the pretrial prison.

The local television informed that before, the court announced the preventive punishment for him in the form of detention.

Another TV channel said that Gennady Kuzmichev is staying in the prison in the Hlinaia village of Grigoriopol raion. This information was confirmed by his spouse Svetlana Kulikova.

“He is staying in one-man confinement cell, beaten half to death, nobody is allowed to visit him. Doctor has not examined him for already over 24 hours and there is no possibility to transmit medicines”, Kulikova said.

According to her, a relative, who was with Kuzmichev at the moment of his kidnapping, addressed to the Moldovan police to make a statement to the police about kidnapping and carjacking.

“At first, the police refused to accept it. Only after failure to establish the location of Kuzmichev the statement was registered”, Kulikova said.

The Sectorul Buiucani of Chisinau police inspectorate confirmed that a complaint about the detention of Kuzmichev was filled to police.

Kuzmichev has been declared wanted for already a year. He is charged with smuggling, committed within an organized criminal gang. Another participant of this group, also former high customs official Sergiu Mantaluta was sentenced to 10 years of top security prison.

According to the investigation, this group had functioned since 2012, after the coming into power of Yevgeny Shevchuk, whose approximate was Kuzmichev. The group was ensuring smuggling of goods to Transnistria and in transit via the region – tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol and alcoholic beverages, meat, clothes and other goods. These were fictitiously cleared at customs stations, but the data was not introduced in the electronic database. Respectively, neither customs duties, nor excise taxes were arriving to the budget.

The investigation says that the volume of goods smuggled over several years of gang activity is estimated at US$140 million. The sums of kick-backs were equal to US$25 million. Kuzmichev and other participants of criminal scheme were monthly receiving US$1.5-2 million each.

After Vadim Krasnoselsky won at presidential elections in early 2017, a criminal case was started against ex-president Shevchuk and his approximates. A part of the latter were arrested and sentenced, the investigation and trials against others continues, while Shevchuk and Kuzmichev managed to run away abroad. Kuzmichev was detained last Saturday in the territory of Moldova with the help of Moldovan law enforcers. After that, he was extradited to Transnistrian colleagues and brought to Tiraspol.