NBM WILL NOT PUBLISH KROLL REPORT ON INVESTIGATING BANK FRAUD

The National Bank of Moldova will not publish the second report of the Kroll detective agency, hired for investigating and consequent returning of the money stolen from banks in 2014, said NBM governor Sergiu Cioclea.

“The Kroll Agency recommended us not to publish the report until all the accounts, to which the stolen money arrived, are identified”, the banker said on the public TV channel Moldova 1.

According to Cioclea, a group of agency experts will come to Chisinau for discussing strategies of further actions on money returning, which were fraudulently stolen from three banks.

“The returning of money is not our competence. For this there are empowered agencies. We will provide information about foreign accounts, on which the stolen money arrived, will prepare documents to direct them to jurisdictions where the money turned out to be. At the end-summer – beginning of autumn we will start the process of money returning”, the NBM president said.

As for the situation in three country’s largest banks – the Moldova Agroindbank (MAIB), the Moldindconbank (MICB) and the Victoriabank, the President said: “We are waiting for investors. For the first time in Moldova the problematic shareholders in banks will be replaced”.

Infotag’s dossier: The regulator introduced external supervision in the MAIB, MICB and VB in accordance with international financial institutions’ recommendations, in particular the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Later, the NBM introduced administrative management in Moldindconbank, 63.86% shares of which were declared concerted as their holders acted in cahoots.

In the country’s major bank – Moldova Agroindbank – the regulator recognized as agreed the shares worth 40%. Currently, this package was placed for public selling, the term of which expires on June 26. As for the Moldova’s first private bank – Victoriabank, in which the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holds 28% shares, the NBM has questions to the package of 39.2%, which belonged to the Insidown Company, registered on Cyprus.

According to the unconfirmed version, there are potential foreign investors, who conducted the assessment of bank assets and are interested in the 40% package of shares. However, they would like to buy shares under state guarantee, which is connected with two companies’ lawsuits to Stockholm Arbitration Court. Being shareholders of the Moldovan bank, they are challenging their right to hold shares in this bank. The problem is that declaring concerted the actions of a group of nontransparent MAIB shareholders the NBM established a term of 90 days for selling their shares. In case shareholders refuse selling shares, the regulator prescribed to MAIB to cancel these shares and conduct additional issue with its placement on public market for sale. The issuer put for sale the package of 389,790 shares at a price of 1,054 lei per one share with nominal value of 200 lei and 36,605 shares at the price of 1,064 lei per share.