Gherman Gorbunţov, the Russian banker that Moldovan assassin Vitalie Proca tried to kill in March 2012, spoke exclusively to Antena 3.
Proca is the one who last shot a young Romanian whom he confused with interlope Puiu Mironescu. The 34 years old assassin is now arrested in Bucharest.
Gorbuntsov, the banker who survived after eight bullets pierced his body, told Antena 3 reporters how the attack took place who allegedly ordered the assassination. The whole story has implications for Russia, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and the UK.
The extended confession of Gorbuntsov and the reply of politician Renato Usatii
Vitalie Proca is the shooter - the Moldavian assassin who in the same year terrorized Romania. Proca wanted to kill an interlope in Piatra Neamt, Puiu Mironescu, but he got the wrong target. Proca shot a 26 year-old who, fortunately, survived.
Six months before the Bucharest attack, Proca had fired eight shots in the Russian businessman, Gherman Gorbuntsov, in London.
Gherman Gorbuntsov was on the phone with his fiancée when he was shot. He had not died and Natalia was the one who did everything for him to live.
The Russian businessman went through two years of operations, coma and hospitals. Then he began to wonder who would have been interested in having him killed?
Renato Usatii is a politician and a well-known businessman in Moldova and Russia. Usatii is just one of the prospective candidates in the presidential elections in Chisinau. Between Gorbunţov and the politician a long battle had been fought on huge amounts of money.
Gorbuntsov is charged in several case files in the Republic of Moldova and Russia. Three years ago he was convicted of embezzlement and extortion. Authorities requested his immediate extradition from London, but the British authorities refused. So Usatii went public to demand that the banker be brought into the country by any means.
Gorbuntsov's extradition requested by the Moldovan authorities since 2011 prompted Gorbuntsov to seek political asylum in the UK, because if they sent him in Moldova he would be killed.
Immediately after the attempted murder, he was granted asylum, like many other Russian businessmen. However, Gorbuntsov still fears for his life.
Proca can no longer harm the businessman. He was arrested in Moscow in February 2013 and was imprisoned in Bucharest, at the request of the Romanian Police.
Proca was sent to Romania in November last year. He was taken to a remand center in Bucharest and is to be tried for attempted murder. When he has served his sentence in Romania, he will most likely be extradited to Britain.
Following allegations made by German Gorbuntsov against Renato Usatii, Antena 3 reporters sent requests to the Ministries of Justice and the prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Moldova and Russia, to see if the Moldovan businessman was being investigated for attempted murder. The institutions mentioned by Antena 3 did not answer the requests.