The National Bank (NBM) published on Wednesday evening the an abridged version of the second Kroll report, which, according to an NBM press release, reveals the way money was siphoned off from the Moldovan banking system as well as the countries where the money went.
The 58-page abridgment contains eight chapters describing the methodology of the international probe, the increased loan exposure during 2012-2014, the Shor group connections, the laundering of the loan funds, and the end destinations of the fraudulent money, among other.
The last chapter, titled “Identification of beneficiaries/perpetrators”, is under half a page long. It says that “in order to protect due process with regards to ongoing or future civil or criminal procedures, it is important that the apparent beneficiaries are kept confidential except in cases which can contribute to any ongoing procedures. Details will be provided to the relevant authorities under separate cover”.
The NBM suggested the Moldovan authorities and the Kroll/Steptoe&Johnson investigators decided to publish a summary, and not the whole thing, in order to strike a balance between the need to keep the public and Moldova’s development partners informed, and the need to preserve chances of recovering the fraudulent money.
The unabridged version will be analyzed by the NBM to identify deficiencies in the system and take the required measures. A team of Kroll/Steptoe&Johnson investigators are expected to be in Chisinau early next year to share operative information on the fraudulent money and the beneficiaries.
