Difficulties were encountered in the cooperation with the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) in the investigation of the bank fraud, said anticorruption prosecutor Octavian Yakimovscki. He noted that the NBM had the servers of the three robbed banks, but these were found by prosecutors only after searches were conducted, IPN reports.

The prosecutor said that the law enforcement agencies had a defective cooperation with representatives of the central bank in the investigation of the bank.

“We conducted two searches at the NBM to obtain the material we needed. We suspected that not all of the material was available to us. We were told that they forgot, didn’t see, didn’t understand. And we then conducted a search at the National Bank and found a part of the servers of the three robbed banks. So, we found more than we requested as we considered that those servers were destroyed or lost. Later, the National Bank of Moldova asserted that they cooperated with us. But I don’t know how they can cooperate when the prosecutors come to carry out a search,” Octavian Yakimovscki stated in the talk show “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.

According to the anticorruption prosecutor, the investigation of the bank fraud is a complex and long-lasting process as the prosecutors weren’t initiated into the financial-banking sector, while the National Bank, which has professionals in the field, dallied any cooperation.

“We met with particular difficulties. The first difficulty was the absence of specialists in the financial-banking sector. The NBM refused for two times to provide specialists who would work with prosecutors daily. We later received a letter informing that we will be helped by three specialists. But every time we needed to invite them, we had to agree beforehand with the NBM’s administration for those persons to come to the Prosecutor’s Office. This way, we took the book and studied finance and banking,” said Octavian Yakimovscki.

He noted that the former leader of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc is one of the main beneficiaries of the bank fraud. The money stolen from banks was used for personal purposes.

“Until 2022, the part referring to Vlad Plahotniuc’s involvement in the bank fraud was handled primarily by the PCCOCS rather than by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office. The stealing mechanism was presented earlier too. You manage and control three banks, take out loans and repay these loans with other loans and create a loop that cannot be covered in another way than by injecting sums of money. Loans were raised and given to Vlad Plahotniuc, who used the money for personal purpose,” stated the prosecutor.

Recently, the chief of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office Veronica Dragalin announced that the case featuring the ex-leader of the Democratic Party Vlad Plahotniuc was remitted to court. According to prosecutors, Plahotniuc in 2013-2015 benefitted from US$40 million as a result of the bank fraud.