The National Bank of Moldova said the preliminary investigation into the alleged financial irregularities at Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank, which was carried out by Kroll Associates UK Limited registered in the UK, selected at a contest this January, was completed, IPN reports.

The bank said that during the investigation, the Kroll experts used the information and analyses provided by the institution and the special administrators of the three banks. Kroll assessed the central bank’s conclusions and the identified irregularities. It also analyzed the sources of the information furnished by the National Bank of Moldova to verify the evidence based on which particular conclusions were drawn and to establish the nature of the additional investigations needed.

The results of the preliminary investigation by Kroll shows that a coordinated and hidden effort was made in 2012-2014 to take control of the three banks and afterward to hide the true nature of the transactions. The volume of released loans was maximized. As a result, the financial situation of the three banks worsened suddenly and there were recorded bad loans and debts of 13.3 billion lei.

The National Bank of Moldova will send the report compiled by Kroll to the investigation body and other relevant institutions of Moldova for facilitating the conducted investigations. As Kroll recommended, the central bank will hold a new contest to select a well-known international company that will carry out the second part of the investigation.

According to the National Bank, the major goal of these moves is to collect the evidence needed to start recover the assets that allegedly total about US$1 billion.