A new hearing on the indictment of Ilan Șor
Another hearing on the Șor case, accused of granting non-performing loans from Banca de Economii, is taking place today at the Chisinau Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, in front of the court, where the trial is taking place, a group of protesters are chanting slogans in support of party leader Ilan Șor.
A new court hearing on the case against Ilan Șor, sentenced by the first instance to seven years and six months in prison with execution for money laundering and swindling in particularly large proportions in the cases of non-performing loans granted in 2014 by the Savings Bank, is being held today, starting at 09:30, at the Court of Appeal. The defenders provided evidence in support of their appeals, and after several breaks, the magistrates resumed examining the case.
In the meantime, outside the court, a group of protesters chanted slogans in support of the party's leader, fugitive MP Ilan Șor.
Ilan Șor was sentenced in 2017 in the "billion theft" case to seven and a half years in prison for fraud and money laundering, worth more than 5.4 billion lei. The court ordered that the sentence will not take effect until it becomes final. In the case, heard today by the judges of the Court of Appeal, the court hearings were postponed several times. According to the prosecutors, Ilan Șor is the subject of nine charges.
At the previous hearing, which took place on 3 March, the defenders filed a request for postponement on the grounds that a request for a transfer of the case had been submitted to the Supreme Court of Justice.
The court found the request for postponement unfounded and the hearing continued. Subsequently, the lawyers filed a request for recusal of the entire panel of the Chisinau Court of Appeal. The request was rejected by the judges, who qualified it as abusive and submitted in bad faith for delaying the examination of the criminal case. As a result, the four lawyers present at the hearing, including the UK lawyer, were fined 2250 lei each by the court.
In 2019, after the Democratic Party left the government, Ilan Șor left the country. According to prosecutors, he is believed to be in Israel, although he has not publicly admitted this.
