Where are the money of Moldova?

Last November, on the eve of the elections, 450 million dollars were lost in Moldova, which equals 10% of its GDP, Peter Hannaford, a member of the board on the Committee on the Present Danger, writes in an article for The Washington Times. Nobody knows yet where this money has gone.

The initial private investigation was entrusted to the international firm Kroll. The Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament published a quote from her report: “There appears to have been a deliberate plan to take control of each bank and subsequently manipulate transactions to gain access to credit, while making it appear otherwise.” However, Hannaford writes, the National Anti-Corruption Center of Moldova claimed that the report was based on rumors that were leaked to the local press.

Perhaps employees of the Central Bank of Moldova were involved in the theft? The money was stolen from three banks, as a result, the Central Bank provided them with urgent assistance and took control.

“There is an often repeated rumor that at least part of the money was transferred to Russian banks. This and other questions remain unanswered. In February, Russian hackers stole money from banks in several other countries. Was this not a dress rehearsal for a massive raid on the banks of Moldova?

“Another theory is that this could be part of Putin’s plan to strengthen the Russian sphere of influence in Eurasia,” Hannaford reports.

Probably, embezzlement in banks was committed by insiders for personal gain, but the instability generated by them definitely strengthens the position of Moscow.

In the summer, elections to municipal authorities will be held in major cities of Moldova. “It seems that Russia is trying to lead its candidates to victory. If they win, expect a push to “federalize” Moldova, similar to the “federalization” Moscow is seeking in Ukraine. “Federalization” will provide the Kremlin with institutional access to the affairs of Russian-speaking regions.