A number of families went to court to seek justice, but lost the case. They bought apartments in a building located at 1/4 Cuza Voda St in Chisinau, when it was being erected, and have been in litigation with the company administering the construction works for over three years as they cannot come into possession of their apartments. The lawyer representing the investors Iulian Rusanovschi said that a number of proofs in favor of his clients were presented, but the decisions passed by the courts dispossessed them of apartments.
In a news conference at IPN , Iulian Rusanovschi accused judge Maria Moraru, of the Chisinau Appeals Court, of erecting obstacles in this case. The judge rejects all the applications to allow access to this file. “I submitted a complaint to the Supreme Council of Magistrates, which said that it does not have reasons to intervene. I also filed a complaint against the judge to the National Anticorruption Center in December 2014, invoking abuse of power, but I received no answer,” he stated.
Investor Galina Afanas said that in 2008 she paid over €30,000 for an apartment in the block that was under construction. In 2010 the company that administered the construction works became insolvent. The administrator of the insolvency process proposed a plan for completing the construction works, but told the investors to pay more money per square meter. Galina Afanas refused and went to court. She found out that the administrator of the insolvency process put her apartment up for sale and asked sequestrating it. But judge Maria Moraru annulled the sequestration order.
Galina Afanas said that she filed 15 applications to be allowed access to this file. Only in two years did she get access to the 39 volumes of the 50 existing, but particular information was absent from these. Even so she found conclusions that weren’t communicated to the investors. “Judge Maria Moraru allowed dubious persons to become apartment owners. The clerk of judge Moraru came into possession of an apartment in the absence of documents justifying this. There was written that I paid about €4,000 for the apartment, but I paid €30,000. Even if it’s evident that my right to a fair trial is violated, the Supreme Council of Magistrates does nothing,” complained the woman.
Investor Vlad Cantir said that in 2009 he moved to the apartment for which he paid. But the contract was terminated when the insolvency process was started. “Dumitru Chicu, who is the administrator of the insolvency process, initially told us that we must pay the rest of the money, but in nine months the contract was terminated unilaterally, for the false reason that the dwellers signed contracts by which they agreed to increasing the price of apartments. The dwellers were obliged to pay one third of the price of the apartment. A number of documents were falsified, including the works examination certificate which said that the works were 70% completed, at a time when they were 94% ready. Thus, by this document they asked for more money from the investors. Maria Moraru took part in the assembly of dwellers, being dressed in a judge robe. She pressurized the dwellers into accepting the higher price per square meter of apartment. She held a hearing in a festivity hall,” he stated.
According to the two investors, over 40 persons are in a similar situation. Some of them yielded to pressure and accepted to pay by 15% more for the apartment. Galina Afanas and Vlad Cantir are preparing the application that will be filed to the ECHR.
