The investigation into the banking fraud committed in the Republic of Moldova is slow and the process is rather simulated. Nothing has been returned of the stolen funds, says a report presented by Transparency International Moldova and the Institute for Development and Social Initiative “Viitorul”.
Ex-minister of finance Veaceslav Negruta, one of the authors of the report, in a news conference at IPN on July 13, said the steps taken by the authorities to recover the funds embezzled from the banking system haven’t yet proved their efficiency. The main finding is that the investigation of the theft of the US$ 1 billion hasn’t even started. “The investigation will start when the Kroll report I will be treated seriously by the authorities and these will begin to analyze what the report says. This gives names of players, information about operations, data transfer,” said the former minister.
According to the expert, the investigation is stagnant and the money will not start to be recovered soon. “The promotion of the law on the creation of the Crime Assets Recovery Agency arouses concerns. The provision saying the institution’s employees will benefit from a particular percentage of the recovered assets is senseless,” stated Veaceslav Negruta. “A long period passed and particular assets can no longer be recovered. The state institutions intentionally delay the investigations and pretend to be taking measures. In reality, they created a corridor for other state budget frauds.”
Veaceslav Ionita, co-author of the report, said the Government earlier announced that 1 billion lei of the embezzled funds was recovered. But this money actually has nothing to do with the bank fraud. 80% represents money paid by people who took out loans, while 20% was collected as a result of insolvency procedures from companies that encountered particular problems in repaying the money. “Nothing has been recovered of the stolen money until now,” he stated.
Mariana Rata, of the Journalistic Investigations Center, said the judges who try the cases that involve Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Sociala and companies with toxic loans continue to make ordinances by which they legalize transfers of money from companies that raised loans to offshore areas. “By court, the procedure for confiscating pledged property is blocked,” stated the journalist.
Transparency International Moldova president Lilia Carasciuc said the investigation is simulated. “Each day of delay in this investigation diminishes the chances of recovering the money. There is no other way out than to seek an international investigation,” she noted.
The report on the monitoring of developments in the sector during December 2016-May 2017 was compiled by Transparency International Moldova and “Viitorul” within the project “A Case Based Approach to Fighting Grand Corruption”.
