Moldova premier vows to continue reforms after ex-leader is detained on $260M bribe charge

CHISINAU, Moldova – Moldova's prime minister says the government will continue to implement reforms a day after a former prime minister was detained and charged with taking bribes worth $260 million.

Premier Valeriu Strelet of the Liberal Democratic Party said Friday not all measures would be popular with the other two parties in the pro-European ruling coalition.

Vlad Filat, Liberal Democratic prime minister from 2009 to 2013, was detained in connection with a bank fraud of up to $1.5 billion that went missing from three banks ahead of November 2014 parliamentary elections. Filat denies wrongdoing.

Strelet called on Moldova's president to fire the director of the anti-corruption prosecutors' office, saying he had "a selective" approach to fighting corruption. He noted that the businessman who allegedly paid bribes to Filat had not been detained.