Marina Tauber has lost her parliamentary immunity
The deputy of the "Șor" party, Marina Tauber, has again been deprived of parliamentary immunity. Fifty-nine MPs voted to waive her immunity at the request of acting Prosecutor General Ion Munteanu.
The charges brought by the prosecutor relate to fraudulent financial reporting during the election campaign. The first charge, examined so far, is the acceptance of financing of the "Șor" Party, including in the electoral campaign for the elections for the mayor of Balti municipality in November 2021, in which Marina Tauber was a candidate.
"According to a pre-established plan, during the electoral campaign, (n.r. Marina Tauber) received from the organized criminal group money in the amount of 9 million 752 thousand lei, of which 740. 464.50 she falsely entered in the donation forms in the name of 104 individuals, who in reality did not donate this amount, false data that she entered in the reports on the financial management of the electoral campaign, by substituting, hiding the identity of donors, the volume of funds accumulated," the acting Prosecutor General explained.
Ion Munteanu also mentioned that the money for the illegal financing of the Șor Party was brought through the airport, Palanca and Leușeni.
On the other hand, MPs from the Bloc of Communists and Socialists mentioned that the amount of 9 million lei would not be correct, because the balance between donations and expenses was not made. They also called for a check on the Action and Solidarity Party's funding, especially from outside.
The matter is being examined in the absence of Marina Tauber and her lawyers, as the legislative secretariat has not received a request to justify her absence from the meeting. The MEP's lawyer, Aureliu Colenco, said that the prosecutors' action to waive her immunity was illegal and he intended to take legal action.
Veronica Dragalin, head of the anti-corruption prosecutor's office, said she had obtained the necessary documents from the Central Electoral Commission and had heard witnesses who supported the charges against Marina Tauber.
The prosecutor's office has requested the waiver of parliamentary immunity with a view to arrest and refer the criminal case against Marina Tauber to the court for the offence of "knowingly accepting the financing of an electoral contestant from an organised criminal group in an extended form". The case concerns the new local elections for mayor of Balti municipality on 21 November 2021.
Marina Tauber's lawyer, Aureliu Colenco, commented to Radio Moldova that the prosecutor's request came with a three-week delay, saying that the request is a continuation of the detention, with procedural violations, on May 1, of MP Marina Tauber at Chisinau International Airport.
The second round of the new local elections for the mayor of Balti on 5 December 2021 was suspended after Marina Tauber was excluded from the electoral competition 30 minutes before the start of the poll. A decision to this effect was adopted by the members of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in an extraordinary meeting on Sunday morning, 5 December 2021, at 6:20 am.
