Did Ilan Shor Take the Missing $1 Billion From Moldovan Banks?

Moldova To Step Up Probe Into Missing $1 Billion



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Ilan Shor has been implicated in the theft of over $1 billion from three Moldovan banks. This according to a report released by Moldovan Parliament speaker Andrian Candu, Radio Free Europe has reported.

One of the wealthiest people in Moldova, Shor was questioned for 8 hours about the banks by investigators from that nation back in March.

The report was compiled by the independent U.S. investigative consultancy agency Kroll Documents. It shows how the 28 year old businessman allegedly received massive loans last year from three Moldovan banks which he had taken control of during 2012-14.

The three banks in question, Unibank, Banca de Economii, and Banca Sociala, are said to have transferred the funds to five different companies under Shor’s control between November 24th and 26th of 2014.

Eduard Harunjen, head of the anticorruption division of the Moldovan Prosecutor-General’s Office, explained to Radio Free Europe that this report, however, does not have legal standing and that he does not believe that there are sufficient grounds to prosecute Shor.

“We do not doubt the objectivity of the report and we are not criticizing it, ” Harunjen said. “But the Kroll experts don’t represent an investigating authority.”

The Moldovan Central Bank commissioned the Kroll report.

On the takeovers of Banca de Economii and Banca Sociala, it states, in part, that “the structure of the share acquisitions appears to be a deliberate attempt within both banks to conceal the true identity of the beneficiaries.”

It concludes that the “significant level of interrelated lending within three, apparently independent banks would have required a significant level of coordination and control of each of them.”

“A preliminary review of the transactions undertaken in each bank suggest [sic] a deliberate intention to extract as much benefit as possible for entities connected to Mr. Shor and to the detriment of the banks, ” the report states.

In response, Shor issued a statement saying, “We are studying the report and in many respects it confirms what we said earlier about what occurred before the arrival of the private investor and how we were forced to cover it.”

For the full Radio Free Europe Story click here.