​PGO FINALLY STARTED INVESTIGATING BANK FRAUD AFTER “LONG SLEEP” – ALEXANDRU SLUSARI

Chairman of the ad-hoc parliamentary commission Alexandru Slusari presented on Thursday the commission’s report on the one-billion-dollar bank fraud investigation. He stated that since August 2019 the Moldovan prosecution service started real investigating the bank fraud, “after such a long sleep”.

Answering to the MPs questions, Slusari pointed at the fact that unlike other equivalent parliamentary and governmental commissions, his commission of professionals had the courage to name the officials involved in the theft one by one. Among these there are Andrian Candu, Dorin Dragutanu, Iurie Leanca, Valeriu Lazar, Anatol Arapu.

The presented report says that a great guilt for the fraud is shouldered on the National Bank of Moldova (NBM), which, having powers, did not use them to prevent the stealing of money from banks.

Asked how public officials, somehow involved in the fraud, were reacting to commission’s questions, Alexandru Slusari said: “They mostly were stating they were little people and nothing depended on them”.

The commission came to a conclusion that groupings of Platon, Plahotniuc, Filat and Shor actively participated in the state’s losing of control over the Banca de Economii by means of placing closed additional issue of bank shares, in which the state did not participated as shareholder, due to which its share fell to 33% from 56%.

Slusari reminded that the International Monetary Fund expressed its concerns in relation to actions of these groupings.

Members of the commission agreed that the bank fraud and the loss of government’s control over BEM was a well-thought action, implemented with participation of state officials.

The commission materials say that a total sum of 25 billion lei was stolen from the three banks: Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank. Surprisingly, even in conditions of external administration the NBM introduced in these banks in late November 2014, the BEM was issuing doubtful credits and conducted large transactions, for example 50 million euros the BEM transferred to the Banca Sociala.

The commission established that the largest sums of money from three banks were removed in the period of November 7 through 27, 2014.

The commission recommends to the Parliament to recall from posts two NBM Deputy Presidents – Ion Sturzu and Aureliu Cincilei, who were appointed by the NBM and are still working in the bank. The commission also recommends the NBM to declassify materials that concern fraudulent removal of US$1 billion from three banks.