​ILAN SHOR INTERROGATED BY PROSECUTORS

Well known Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor was interrogated by prosecutors. He was detained by the National Anti-Corruption Center (NACC) officers this morning.

According to Head of the NACC Criminal Prosecution Department Bogdan Zumbreanu, searches in Shor’s office and apartment have been conducted. The main topic of interrogations is the businessman’s financial activity.

Also, other three people, who worked in the Banca de Economii (BEM, Moldova’s savings bank) or Banca Sociala in different times, were interrogated today: Virel Birca (Acting Chairman of the BEM), Natalia Rahuba (Banca Sociala Chairperson), Leontie Suholitco (Banca Sociala Administrative Board member).

It is more likely that Ilan Shor was detained in connection to withdrawal of money from BEM, recently confirmed by the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). As of the start of investigation, the damage was estimated at 10.1 billion lei for BEM and 17 billion lei for Banca Sociala (US$1 billion).

After the interrogation, Shor said that he is glad investigative activities are being conducted.

“I hope these actions will bring to the fact that all the three banks, including the Unibank, will remain active and will be saved”, said he.

Infotag’s dossier: Ilan Shor is one of Moldova’s richest people, a millionaire, Director General of the Dufremol Company that has a network of duty-free shops in Moldova. Shor owns several companies, inherited from his father. His name is associated with the possession of Chisinau airport, as well as with the BEM, Banca Sociala and Unibank, where the NBM introduced external management. Shor is married to Russian pop singer Jasmin (Sara Semendueva). Since late January, the Russian authorities banned Shor’s entry to Russia.