Former chair of the Criuleni District, Vitalie Rotaru, will face the court on charges of passive corruption. He had allegedly received about 1,1 million lei from several economic agents, involved in the implementation of European investment projects.

The Deputy Chairman of the Criuleni District, as well as an EU-funded project manager will appear in the dock together with Rotaru. The two are accused of complicity in committing acts of passive and active corruption.

According to the prosecutors, Vitalie Rotaru extorted 50,000 euros from the manager of CBCRuR Waste, a project in which the Council benefited from European funds as a partner. For this amount, Rotaru guaranteed that the Criuleni District Council would transfer into the accounts of the respective projects the amount of 2.7 million lei, which represents the 10% contribution of the Council to their financing.

Thus, in the period of July – November 2014, Vitalie Rotaru received through his deputy, from the project manager, a total of 1.1 million lei, a sum transmitted in 12 installments.

The former chair of the Criuleni district, Vitalie Rotaru, is also known by the fact that he tried to jump out of the window, while anticorruption officers forced the apartment door to detain him. In early July, Rotaru was noticed without escort on the Hall of the Buiucani District Court. He then told for CrimeMoldova that he did not intend to jump out of the window while being detained.

If found guilty, Rotaru and his deputy risk up to 15 years of imprisonment with a fine of 400 to 500 thousand lei and deprivation of the right to hold certain public positions, or to practice certain activities for up to 15 years. At the same time, the project manager risks up to 12 years of imprisonment with a fine of 300 to 400 thousand lei.

We would like to remind you that Vitalie Rotaru was appointed as chairman of the Criuleni district in 2011, being a representative of the Liberal Democratic Party. Later, in 2015, the former official announced he withdrew from the party, declaring himself disappointed by the party leadership. Later, Rotaru joined the Democratic Party of Moldova.

The former official is also known by the fact that, due to excessive emotions, he was trembling nervously during a speech, he held in the presence of the former Prime Minister Vlad Filat. Additionally, he was noticed in a nightclub in Chisinau when he was sleeping drunk.

17 July 2017

Crime Moldova

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