Second stage of investigation on three banks to start in June

Chisinau, 7 May /MOLDPRES/- The National Bank of Moldova plans to complete the tender specifications on organising a contest to select a company, which will continue investigation started by Kroll company at the three banks being under a special management. "In late May, we will have contract signed for the second stage", the governor of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM), Dorin Dragutanu, said today.

The second stage "is streamlined not to find guilty people or institutions which did or did not do something. The total focus is on identifying misappropriated funds and assets and starting legal procedures in the country in which they have been identified to ensure these assets and subsequently to recover them".

The investigations will last six-nine months and obviously, will be expensive, the governor added. He said: "it is probably that after this, investigations should continue".

After the yesterday meeting of the parliamentary commission on economy, budget and finance, Dragutan hinted that the fee for services provided by the foreign company would be two or three times higher than the one paid to the Kroll company.

The first stage of investigation was aimed at preparing basis for detailed investigations in a structured and professional way, according to the best practices. These investigations require a much longer period and it is important not to go on false tracks, the governor also said.

The Kroll company found that as a result of very complex transactions between the Savings Bank (Banca de economii), Social Bank and Unibank, only between 24 and 26 November 2014, the Social Bank transferred 13.5 billion lei to five unknown companies from Moldova. Subsequently, the companies sent money on accounts of Latvian off-shore companies registered in the Great Britain and Hong Kong.

 (Reporter V. Bercu, editor M. Jantovan)