OVER US$70 BILLION WAS LAUNDERED THROUGH MOLDOVA - WATCHDOG

Due to the scheme of the "Russian Landromat", over US$70 billion have been laundered through Moldova, concluded expert of the "Watchdog" NGO Sergiu Tofilat and ex-Minister of Finance Veaceslav Negruta.

On Monday, they presented a research, according to which in 2010-2014 the volumes of financial flows to Moldova from CIS achieved US$80 billion, while in 2015, after the conclusion of the Landromat, these fell to US$3.2 billion.

According to experts, though official data say that money volumes transferred through Moldova in this way account for approximately US$20 billion, in fact it is about not less than US$70 million, or 7 annual GDPs of the republic.

For implementing the scheme, its organizers created at least 21 offshore companies in Great Britain, New Zealand and Cyprus. Through the scheme of fraudulent bills, artificial debts were created, where Moldovan citizens were mentioned as guarantors and on their behalf debt obligations were being repaid through Russian companies at the order of Moldovan courts, while the money were going to offshore firms.

Experts said that the scheme was implemented with complete connivance of public institutions, including the National Bank of Moldova, and political elites were taking an active part in it.

According to Tofilat, the research contains a great number of evidences, which confirm the participation of many politicians and officials in the scheme.

"This opens a wide spectrum of opportunities, including for considering the issue of personal sanctions for participants in the Landromat and for freezing their assets. The research was first of all conducted for development partners, which have much more efficient justice instruments than Moldova", the expert said.