A group of ex-servicemen accuse Eduard Maican, the president of the National Union of Independence War Veterans (UNVRI), of money laundering and power abuse during his tenure at UNVRI Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. More than one hundred veterans have signed a petition to remove Maican from office. At a news conference on Thursday, Valeriu Ciobanu, an UNVRI member, stated that chairman Maican had violated the organization’s bylaws by usurping power in the UNVRI National Council, engaging in wrongful and unauthorized practices. The ex-servicemen believe Eduard Maican is responsible for the fact that the veterans and their families haven’t get any help and financial assistance they deserve from UNVRI. Valeriu Ciobanu claims the president of the organization is pushing his own interests using the money destined for UNVRI. According to him, huge sums have been transferred to the organization’s account, yet the veterans are still living a miserable life. The veterans went on to add that Maican had been engaged in numerous embezzlement schemes and acts of corruption. They expressed their deep concern about the situation of a building located on 1 Garii Str, which had been offered by the municipality to the organization’s use in February 2004. The building, a former kindergarten, was supposed to be reconditioned into a veterans museum and a center for patriotic education. Constantin Harstioaga, a member of the governmental commission for veterans’ issues, said that nothing had been done since the building was offered until present days. According to Harstioaga, UNVRI is likely to lose the building very soon, because Eduard Maican, using the poor condition of the roof as a pretext, allowed a construction company to start erecting a mansard atop the building. The veterans believe Maican gave green light to the work on the mansard because he intends to privatize the building and then sell it. To stop the construction, the veterans picketed the building site on March 2, in order to protest and defend the assets destined for UNVRI. The organization’s members state they will fight so that Maican cannot appropriate the building and will continue to petition the UNVRI Council to have Maican dismissed. According to statistics, 287 persons were killed, 40 were declared missing, and about 3,500 were mutilated during the war on the Nistru.