![](http://old.media-azi.md/sites/default/files/cedo.jpg)
The journalistic investigation, which was published in September 2016, referred to an offshore transaction involving the Exclusive Media Company, managed by the socialist MP Corneliu Furculita, founder of ‘NTV Moldova’ and of the ‘Аргументы и Факты в Молдове’ publication [Arguments and Facts in Moldova]. According to the investigation, over MDL30 million were transferred through this company and entered Moldova a few months before the Presidential election (30 October 2016). The transfer came through an offshore company connected to the Russian Federation and created in one of the tax havens – the Bahamas.
After publication of the material the representatives of PSRM and Exclusiv Media Company sued the journalists for defamation and demanded publication of denials. The court of first instance ruled in Company’s favour but the journalists appealed against the decision to the Court of Appeal. Later, though, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Justice rejected their appeals. Thus, the director of RISE Moldova Iurie Sanduta filed a complaint with the ECtHR on 9 January.