Preventive arrest extended: Vladimir Andronachi to stay detained another 10 days in the major money-laundering case
Former Democratic MP Vladimir Andronachi, who has been accused of large-scale money laundering, will remain in pretrial detention for an additional ten days. This decision was made on December 8 by the Centru Court of Appeal, which upheld the prosecutors' appeal against the ruling of the Chisinau Court in Ciocana.
The Court of Appeal of Chişinău has accepted the prosecutors' appeal against the decision of the Chisinau Court in Ciocana, which extended the pre-trial detention of former deputy Vladimir Andronachi by 20 days. Consequently, the Court of Appeal has ordered an additional 30-day extension of his pre-trial detention, according to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
On November 24, the first witness was heard in the case against Andronachi, who is accused of laundering a large amount of money. Andronachi was absent from the trial, but his accomplice, Anatolie Blonschi, was present. The witness, architect Victor Grozavu, prepared the project for the "Offshore" Hotel, located at the intersection of București and Vlaicu Pârcălab streets. The beneficiary of the hotel project is a company affiliated with Blonschi, who is regarded as Andronachi's right-hand man and allegedly managed several companies belonging to the former deputy.
Vladimir Andronachi was detained on September 2 of this year. He is currently facing a new criminal case and is accused of laundering money in particularly large proportions, a crime that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine.
Additionally, his name is linked to three other criminal cases: the "bank fraud" case, the "Metalferos" case, and a case concerning the purchase of passport blanks. In these cases, he is accused of inflicting millions of lei in damages to the state and laundering money for a criminal organization.
Andronachi, a former vice-president of the Democratic Party and an associate of Vladimir Plahotniuc, served as a deputy in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova from 2015 to 2021. In November 2022, he was detained in Ukraine and subsequently expelled to Chisinau after previously fleeing the country.
After a period of detention, he was placed under house arrest. In August 2023, he was released on a personal guarantee of 22,000 lei, which was paid by several guarantors, including a priest.
