Evghenia Guțul will stand trial in the case of the illegal financing of the former Șor party
The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office informed, on Wednesday, April 24, that it completed the criminal investigation and sent the criminal case against Evghenia Guțul and a secretary from the Central Office of the former "Şor" Political Party to the court for substantive examination. According to a press release from the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, they are accused of committing two counts of knowingly accepting the financing of the electoral competitor and the political party from an organized criminal group, in prolonged form, as an accomplice.
The criminal investigation was started in January 2022, based on the notification of the National Investigation Inspectorate and the Central Electoral Commission.
According to the evidence administered by the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office jointly with the National Anticorruption Center and the Information and Security Service, it was found that, during the years 2019 - 2022, Evghenia Guțul, working as a secretary in the Department of Monitoring, Planning and Control of the former "Şor" Political Party (declared unconstitutional and deleted from the State Register of Legal Entities), was actively involved in the activity of systematic introduction of unaccounted financial means in the Republic of Moldova, received from an organized criminal group, mainly from the Russian Federation, through air and land trips (round trip for 24 hours), which he later integrated into the party's activity in order to support its activity in the political arena of the Republic of Moldova.
On another charge, Evghenia Guțul, as an accomplice, during the period October 2022-November 2022, coordinated the activity of some Territorial Offices of the former "Sor" Political Party in the districts of the Republic of Moldova, being responsible for checking and confirming the lists and the remuneration of the participants in the protests organized by the "Sor" Political Party in front of the public institutions in Chisinau (Parliament, Government, Presidency, General Prosecutor's Office, etc.), thus knowingly accepting the financing of the political party by an organized criminal group in the total amount of about 42.5 million lei. The other accomplice, who was in charge of the Territorial Office in the municipality of Chisinau, between October 2022 and November 2022, knowingly accepting the financing of the political party from the organized criminal group, in the total amount of more than 9 .7 million lei, financial means intended for payment of protests organized by the political party, payment of unaccounted salaries (in envelopes) to members of territorial offices, etc.
The accused did not admit the facts committed, and the criminal case in 68 volumes, together with the indictment on 329 pages, was sent for substantive examination to the Chisinau Court based in Buiucani.
For the crime committed, the law provides for the punishment in the form of a fine ranging from 57,500 thousand lei to 92.5 thousand lei or imprisonment from 2 to 7 years, in both cases with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or to exercise certain activities for a period of 2 to 5 years, and the legal entity is punished with a fine in the amount of 250,000 to 450,000 lei with the deprivation of the right to exercise a certain activity.
