CHISINAU, May 24. /TASS/. Moldovan prosecutors are searching ex-President Igor Dodon’s place of residence, Prosecutor General’s Office Spokesperson Mariana Kerpek confirmed to TASS.
"Operative measures are being taken on a handful of charges, including passive corruption, treason, and illicit enrichment" she said.
Law enforcement officers are also conducting searches among the properties of Dodon’s intermediaries, Kerpek added.
Acting Moldovan Prosecutor General Dimitru Robu ordered a criminal case be opened against Dodon, now head of the Moldovan-Russian Business Union, last week over the videos made public in June 2019.
A videotape showing oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, then Democratic Party leader, who controlled the parliament and the government, handing over a black package, presumably with money, to Dodon. The clip does not show Dodon taking the package, but opposition parties accused him of corruption.
Compromising material from an oligarch on the run
A few days later, TV channels run by Plahotniuc showed the video footage, made in the Democratic Party’s office, accusing Dodon of treason. However, a short while afterwards the oligarch lost power and fled the country to Miami. A coalition of the Party of Socialists and the ACUM alliance came to power, and Maia Sandu, one of the alliance’s leaders, became prime minister. Prosecutors investigated the video, but found "no elements of crime" in it, and a court in Chisinau rejected the case. Last week, the Appeals Chamber reversed the court’s decision.
Dodon denies charges
The Moldovan ex-president says the authorities are using the case to divert the public’s attention away from their fiascos, and from the rapidly deteriorating domestic economic situation. He said he would not flee the country and was ready to stand up to his foes.
He earlier demanded the pro-European government’s resignation, accusing it of being unfit to tackle the crisis.