Mayor of Orhei town Ilan Shor, ex-president of the Administration Board of Banca de Economii (BEM), said the real damage caused to the banking system as a result of frauds total US$625 million dollars and the figure of US$1 billion is inflated. In a press briefing, the businessman said that he decided to make these data public following an increasing number of speculations and manipulating media reports about the bank frauds, IPN reports.
Ilan Shor said the damage was caused as a result of the illegal release of loans to the value of US$ 375 million from the BEM when the bank was headed by Grigore Gachkevich. In 2008-2012, the BEM provided loans to business entities that passed on the money to offshore companies based on nontransparent contracts. The National Bank of Moldova didn’t intervene to remedy the situation at the BEM when this was managed by Grigore Gachkevich.
The businessman also said that another US$250 million represents the damage caused when he managed the Administration Board of the BEM. He was forced to take out loans in the name of companies he ran by the then Prime Minister Vlad Filat. The money was then transferred to offshore companies managed by the ex-Premier and the administrator of the firm “Caravita”. He transmitted money to Vlad Filat not only as loans as this threatened him that he would impede his business.
In another development, Ilan Shor said the accusations made against him by the prosecutors are groundless. He intends to contract a foreign audit company to carry out an own investigation into this case and find out what happened and where the money went.
Parliament last October voted to deprive Vlad Filat of parliamentary immunity at the request of the prosecutor general. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Filat extorted and received money and goods from Ilan Shor for not carrying out inspections at his company Dufremol, for naming him honorific council in Russia and for allowing him to sell oil products. Also, Vlad Filat asked money and property to the value of over US$190 million from Shor for influencing government officials to make decisions and adopt the normative documents needed to issue additional shares at BEM, without the participation of the state. This led to the diminution of the state-owned holding in this bank. Vlad Filat pleads not guilty.
