A transnational group was foiled in its attempt to use the financial-banking system of Moldova in a scheme to launder money that illegally came from EU member states. According to the National Anticorruption Center, the group included citizens of Israel, Russia, Lithuania, Moldova and other states that are yet to be identified, IPN reports.

The Center said damage was caused to a number of companies from the EU by a new type of fraud called social engineering, within which confidential information is obtained by psychological manipulation.

After obtaining the necessary data, the group members used them to simulate contract relations. For example, when they made sure that the chief of the victim company was on a trip, they contacted accountants or financial employees of the company and informed them, in the name of the manager, about an emergency and that particular sums of money had to be transferred to the accounts of unknown firms. Afterward, from these accounts the money was transferred to a chain of intermediaries in such countries as Estonia, Latvia and Moldova.

Using this scheme, in September-October this year attempts were made to use the bank accounts of Moldovan companies founded for the purpose so as to legalize money obtained illegally from economic entities operating in Lithuania, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary and other countries. The money was to be transferred to companies in China, based on fictitious contracts for the purchase of industrial equipment.

Officers of the National Anticorruption Center and prosecutors blocked the bank accounts of the intermediaries, with €1.3 million now being sequestrated. During searches at the homes and offices of suspects, there were found and seized stamps and documents concerning the creation of ten Moldovan and four foreign companies, digital distance access keys to eight accounts, falsified contracts and bank guarantee letters and other objects and documents used to commit the frauds.

A person who directed the illegal activities of the group on Moldova’s territory was placed under arrest for 30 days initially. The alleged organizer of the whole criminal scheme, a citizen of Israel, was put on the wanted list. The embassies of the countries where the companies that became victims of the group operate were informed about this case so that they initiate activities to recover the damage.