Kroll audit company unveils first investigation report on Moldovan bank scam

Chisinau, 25 March /MOLDPRES/-Kroll Company submitted the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) the first progress report on the ongoing investigation of the large-scale bank fraud, which led to the collapse of three banks- Savings Bank, Social Bank and Unibank commercial bank- in late 2014.  

It is the first stage of a two-year investigation of the transactions carried out at the aforementioned banks in 2012-2014. The central bank says “a plan to recover the global assets from the malefactors  will be implemented in the near time”.   

Kroll “confirmed BNM’s initial findings, according to which transactions had been made within a coordinated fraud, and is currently collecting evidence to meet the highest procedural standards of international courts”. Kroll team identified, stocked and analysed thousands of documents obtained with the support of central banks and other parties from various countries, which will lay the foundation of the main evidence to prove the bank scam which crushed the three targeted banks.

Initially, Kroll investigated the period of May-November 2014, as “loans the robbed banks offered to affiliated persons during this period, increased more than twice and accounted for 13 billion lei on 24 November 2014. The long-term investigation aims to recover stolen funds and identify all the parties who benefited from the bank scam,” BNM states.

The first stage of the investigation in progress “confirmed the initial conclusions of the previously completed preliminary investigation and showed clear evidence on Ilan Shor’s crucial involvement, as well as on the participation of companies and persons affiliated to him (Grupul Sor- Shor Group) in the bank scam,” BNM’s press service highlights. The information collected and analyzed by Kroll, confirmed that “Shor Group was linked to the acquisition of the shares of the three Moldovan banks in 2012-2014 and directly controlled their important decisions, including the ones related to offering “loans” in favor of interconnected companies, without any intention to return them. The group also created a network of companies, which helped stole and launder the money, thus gaining a significant part of the stolen funds. At this stage, Kroll traced transactions accounting for more than 350 million dollars, which could be directly attributed to the bank scam the three banks had been involved into,” BNM press release notes.

According to BNM, money laundering and dissipation was carried out through an extended network of banking companies and accounts in multiple jurisdictions, inclusively through Moldovan bank accounts, as well as from Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Cyprus. Experts are currently taking measures to track down the flow of funds and identify the persons who benefited from the bank scam.

Representatives of the Kroll Company, in charge of investigating the Moldovan bank scam, paid a visit to Chisinau last week and unveiled a “progress report” on the investigation of the fraud. According to the company’s approximations, Moldova will succeed to recover between 30 and 35 per cent of the stolen money from outside, and about two billion lei from inside the country. A statement to this effect was made by Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu during a TV show on  24 March.

(Reporter V. Bercu, Editor L. Alcaza)