Prosecutor's office completed case on involvement in "theft of billion" of commercial bank

Chisinau, 3 September /MOLDPRES/- Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo announced today that the institution has completed the case on involvement in the "theft of the billion" of a commercial bank. The prosecutors indictment concerns both the banking institution, as a legal entity - accused of money laundering, and the former head of the Board of Directors of this bank, charged with fraud in large proportions and money laundering in the interest of a criminal organization.

Three weeks ago, at the request of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, the court has authorized the seizure of the bank's assets worth 1.9 billion lei, namely: 54 cars, 24 buildings and 4 trucks - worth 58 million lei, and 114 state securities amounting to 1.85 billion lei.

The prosecutor's office is investigating the activity of the banking institution and its managers, who are presumed to be involved in the theft of state money worth 2.3 billion lei ", he said.

According to PG data, on November 13, 2014, the Moldovan government decided that all interbank loans, which at that time amounted to 222 million lei should be recovered from financial institutions. On November 17, 2014, the Ministry of Finance provides a state guarantee on the recovery of money.

After approving the decisions, one of the banks - whose shareholder is the company affiliated to Plahotniuc, in emergency regime, within 5 days, transferred on the accounts of the bankrupt bank – Savings Bank, about 2.3 billion lei. In reality, however, only 1.2 billion lei are transferred to the Savings Bank's accounts, the outstanding debt being generated by the "carousel" method of fictitious interbank investments. These actions took place in flagrant violation of the legislation and not without the involvement of the National Bank. On November 28, 2014, the National Bank returns about 2.3 billion lei on the accounts of the commercial bank, which were earlier placed on the BEM accounts.

The prosecutor's office noted that the new shareholders of the bank knew about illegalities, yet purchased the shares, the beneficiary of which was Vlad Plahotniuc.