CHISINAU, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Moldova's former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, leader of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was arrested for corruption and influence peddling on Thursday, soon after he was stripped of parliamentary immunity.
According to Prosecutor General Corneliu Gurin, Filat has committed a theft of several hundred millions of dollars with the help of businessman Ilan Shore, who is also involved in bank fraud.
"We have evidences that proves Vlad Filat's participation, eyewitness testimony and confirmation that shows his involvement," said the prosecutor general.
Earlier Thursday, Gurin asked for depriving Filat of his immunity which he enjoyed as a lawmaker, so as to allow prosecutors to begin investigating his involvement in the fraud of Banca de Economii (Savings Bank), one of the three Moldova leading banks from which 1 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 12 percent of the country's GDP, mysteriously disappeared in several days in November 2014.
"This was a political order and the justice is politically subordinated and applied selectively. By this gesture, the true persons guilty of the fraud at Banca de Economii try to find a scapegoat and distract the public opinion's attention from the lawless actions that are being committed," the Liberal Democratic Party stressed in a declaration.
The Liberal Democrats will be headed from now on by Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet, according to an announcement made by Vlad Filat before the vote in Parliament for the annulment of his immunity.
Speaking about the arrest of Vlad Filat, Strelet said he hopes that Filat will prove his innocence.
