Millions in assets: Ex-MoldATSA chief's luxury cars and crypto fortune
The former administrator of the State Enterprise for the Use of Airspace and Air Traffic Service "Moldatsa," Dumitru Vangheli, left office with a substantial fortune. According to the asset declaration he submitted at the end of his term, he earned a monthly salary of over 107,000 lei during the first half of this year, totaling approximately 643,000 lei. In addition to his salary, Vangheli owns a house valued at 860,000 euros, six cars, over a million dollars in cryptocurrencies, and bank deposits in Canada.
House with land worth 1.7 million euros and cars worth 6 million lei
The document made public by the National Integrity Authority shows that Dumitru Vangheli owns a house with an area of almost 400 square meters purchased in 2022, with the associated land for the amount of 425,000 euros. Both the house and the land currently have an estimated market value of 860,000 euros each, i.e. over 1.7 million euros.
Vangheli also declares agricultural land received by donation in 2023.
His assets also include six cars, purchased between 2021 and 2023, with a total value of approximately 326,500 Canadian dollars and 31,500 US dollars, or the equivalent of over six million lei.
The luxury cars include a Rolls-Royce Ghost, purchased for 88,000 Canadian dollars, a Lexus RX 450H - 62,000 Canadian dollars, a Tesla Model S - 60,000 Canadian dollars, a Ford Escape PHEV - 48,000 Canadian dollars, a Mazda CX-5 - 37,000 Canadian dollars, and a Toyota Camry, purchased for 31,500 US dollars.
Cryptocurrency Millionaire
A significant part of the declared wealth is represented by investments in virtual assets.
Dumitru Vangheli declared that he owns seven types of cryptocurrencies. Among the most famous are Bitcoin, Ethereum and Chainlink (LINK), along with other digital assets such as TRX, XCH, SHIBA INU and IRIDIUM.
The largest investment is in the cryptocurrency LINK, for which he reports a purchase price of $ 625,000. In total, investments in cryptocurrencies exceed 1.1 million US dollars or approximately 20 million Moldovan lei.
In addition, Vangheli declares a bank deposit of 491,553 Canadian dollars at a Canadian bank and a current account with almost 2,800 Canadian dollars.
The former head of Moldatsa also holds almost half a million Canadian dollars in two bank accounts in Montreal.
Vangheli also declared significant loans, and the cumulative value reaches approximately 630,400 euros and another 10,000 US dollars, with the largest loans being 334,400 euros and 135,000 euros, respectively. Some of these are to be repaid by 2027, and others have due dates until 2042.
At the same time, the former administrator is a partner in six companies in the Republic of Moldova that operate in areas such as green energy, real estate, restaurants, and information technology.
He also holds shares in the European aircraft manufacturer "Airbus" and the Canadian company "RioCan", which specializes in real estate investments.
On June 22, Dumitru Vangheli was dismissed from his position as director of Moldatsa after the Board of Directors revoked his mandate due to a loss of trust from the founder. This decision followed an investigation by ZdG, which revealed that Vangheli had included false information on his CV regarding his aviation experience and education.
The scandal surrounding Vangheli led to a series of resignations and exposed several irregularities within the company. An assessment conducted by the National Anticorruption Center found that many individuals had been hired without a competitive process or integrity checks, with some employees holding up to three positions simultaneously.
The report also highlighted the arbitrary granting of salary increases, including to those who approved the payments, without clear performance criteria. Additionally, it noted problematic acquisitions and expenses deemed excessive, such as a training budget of approximately nine million lei allocated over just nine months.
In this context, Anastasia Taburceanu, the spokesperson for Moldatsa, resigned after reportedly being paid over a million lei in less than a year. According to another investigation by Rise Moldova, her earnings exceeded 75,000 lei per month in 2025, and in 2026, her monthly income surpassed 120,000 lei—almost eight times the average salary in the economy and about four times the salary of President Maia Sandu, who is also Taburceanu's cousin.
The scandal also had political and administrative repercussions. MP Radu Marian announced his resignation as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Budget, and Finance, and Roman Cojuhari, Director General of the Public Property Agency, also stepped down, taking responsibility for the lack of stricter oversight of the financial decisions made by Moldatsa's former management.
