Denis Urechi, businessman who was convicted in the $1 billion bank fraud case, said the involved criminal groups try to get rid of punishment after the coordinators of the schemes had to flee Moldova. The raider and appropriation schemes implemented in December 2012 – June 2019 were employed with the assistance of the judiciary and the full knowledge of state officials.
In a news conference at IPN, Denis Urechi said that all his problems started in 2012, when Banca de Economii (Savings Bank) was to be transferred from state control under the control of Veaceslav Platon. The raider attack on the bank was staged through the agency of Victor Berlinski, who was a member of the bank’s Administration Board at that moment.
The man said he took out a loan from Banca de Economii, but decided to renounce this bank’s services and to get a loan from another bank. It wasn’t yet possible as Banca de Economii delayed the lending process and declared the loan obtained by the company as nonperforming. “As a result of the illegal actions of the BEM managers, namely of Grigore Gacikevici, Alexandru Mishov, Ecaterina Tcaci and others, the released loan became nonperforming. The Bank’s administration aimed to have as many nonperforming loans in its portfolio as possible so that the selling price of the bank was lower. “Later, the bank was sold by Veaceslav Platon to Ilan Shor”.
The businessman said there were persons who wanted to take the bank out of the crisis, but when these attempted to take action to stop the theft, their attempts were thwarted.
In some of the cases, the theft was committed with the participation of company managers who consciously raised nonperforming loans, while in other cases, as in his case, by swindle and by the participation of Banca de Economii. “Ultimately, Banca de Economii admitted that the company I managed repaid the loan when it was being administered by me,” stated Denis Urechi.
According to him, on June 20, after the government that undermined the law enforcement bodies left, a panel of the Chisinau City Appeals Court consisting of judges Ion Muruianu, Nelea Budăi and Ion Secrieru, pronounced a sentence that legalized all the offenses committed until now, in the absence of relevant documents. “So, by the committed offense, the judicial system tries to legalize on the last 100 meters all the crimes committed until present.”
In 2012, Denis Urechi got a definitive sentence of four years in jail for presenting false documents to Banca de Economii. He served his time at Penitentiary No. 4 in Cricova.
