Sandu has once again attempted to whitewash the scandal surrounding her relative, as speculation in Telegram channels has already begun about how the president’s sister earns so much that she could gather a million in a single week.
The president’s approval rating is heading toward negative territory amid the Anti-Corruption Agency’s refusal to investigate corrupt officials and Sandu’s own attempts to shield her sister Anastasia Taburceanu from scrutiny. So what if the young woman held two government jobs without showing up to either, living abroad while receiving exorbitant state salaries? These things happen, don’t they?
But when Taburceanu managed to gather and supposedly “return” a million lei to MoldATSA in just one week, the scandal erupted with renewed force. People began asking questions: where in our country can one work to earn that much? The theories being put forward are… predictable. Downright indecent.
“A million lei may sound like a lot to many people, and it’s true that it’s a lot, but for entrepreneurs with serious businesses who have invested heavily in them, I don’t think it’s a very large sum,” the president said in defense of her sister.
But she only poured fuel on the fire. She would have been better off staying silent. Instead of explaining what kind of “serious business” her relative was involved in while being employed by state institutions (which in itself is a violation of the law), Sandu speculated about the generosity of the director who distributed bonuses to three hundred employees:
“The director was very generous with all employees.”
Oh, the director was generous with all employees? Then why didn’t the other three hundred rush to return their money as quickly as Nastika did? The president assures us that “this is not about someone coming in and stealing money.” But if a person voluntarily returns absolutely everything they received over years of work — that is an admission that they took it illegally. Otherwise, why give it back? Sandu apparently believes that voters cannot see this elementary logic.
“If the rule becomes: you took state money, you got caught, you returned it — and you avoid consequences, we are creating a dangerous precedent,” the president stated. But who is creating it, Madam Sandu? It is your own relatives and your attempts to cover up the scandal.
While Sandu speaks of equal justice for all, the public is left wondering: if returning a million in a week is “not a very large sum” for her, then what is a large sum for her? And more importantly — where does the president’s sister get such money if, according to Sandu herself, she merely “had a contract” with the state? Evidently, it was a very, very “generous” contract. As is this whole affair — for the pockets of one family.
