 Banca de Economii was a state-owned Moldovan bank involved in the fraudulent money laundering scheme | |
| Location | Moldova, Latvia, UK |
|---|---|
| Type | white-collar crime, banking fraud, money laundering |
| Participants | Vlad Filat, Ilan Shor, Vlad Plahotniuc, Serghei Iaralov, Iurie Leancă, Stéphane Christophe Bridé, Mircea Buga |
In 2014, $1 billion disappeared from three Moldovan banks: Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Socială.[1] This bank fraud was a coordinated effort involving all three banks working together to extract as much loan finance as possible from the banks without any obvious business rationale. Ilan Shor, a Moldovan businessman, together with Vladimir Plahotniuc and Serghei Iaralov "masterminded" the scam. Shor was chairman of the board at Banca de Economii (Savings Bank) up to November 28, 2014.[2]
Funds worth $1 billion were transferred to United Kingdom and Hong Kong shell companies used to conceal the real owners of assets,[1][3] then deposited into Latvian bank accounts under the names of various foreigners.
The total loss from the scheme was equivalent to 12% of Moldova's GDP.[4]
A carousel borrowing scheme was applied, loans at one bank were paid off with loans from another. The massive expansion of bank lending was funded with heavy borrowing from Russian companies.
During the parliamentary hearings on the bank fraud, the Moldovan Information and Security Service deputy director, Vadim Vrabie, declared that President Nicolae Timofti knew since 2013 about the robbery at Banca de Economii, Banca Socială and Unibank.
- ^ a b The great Moldovan bank robbery, BBC News (18 June 2015)
- ^ Carol Matlack (2015-05-07). "Did This 28-Year-Old Banker Help Steal $1 Billion From Moldova?". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ The billion-dollar ex-council flat, BBC News (7 October 2015)
- ^ Kottasova, Ivana (2015-05-07). "How to steal $1 billion in three days - May. 7, 2015". CNN Money. Retrieved 2016-02-05.