Moldova’s Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Andrei Năstase,  announced in a Facebook post that during his visit to the United States, he had meetings with senior officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), where he received assurances that the agency will provide Moldova with “full support” so that “justice can be done” in the case of the stolen billion. 

From September 18 to 19, Prime Minister Maia Sandu along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, Andrei Năstase, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu, Minister of Finance Natalia Gavrilița were on an official visit to the United States. The delegation also included the Prime Minister’s advisors on Foreign Affairs and on Security and Defense.

In a Facebook post, the Interior Minister Andrei Năstase said that he had managed to put a number of Moldovan fraud and money laundering cases on the agenda of the FBI, including “the theft of the billion, the laundromat of the international mafia and all the other schemes that have ruined the financial-banking system and robbed our country of much-needed resources.”

“At the beginning of my visit to the United States, I had meetings with senior FBI officials and handed over the letter asking American partners to offer us full support in locating and bringing to justice in Moldova all those who have committed these crimes, starting with Plahotniuc and Shor and all their accomplices,” Năstase wrote.

This comes after a live TV show broadcast on TVRMoldova on August 29, where Năstase declared that an international search for Plahotniuc will soon be announced. 

On September 10, Interior Minister Năstase, sent a request to the interim Prosecutor General, Dumitru Robu, asking him to initiate a criminal investigation against Vladimir Plahotniuc, members of the former government and the current government, and judges suspected of committing acts of corruption or illicit enrichment. 

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According to a statement issued by the Government, on September 18, the Prime Minister will have a meeting with Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, to discuss the priorities in strengthening the strategic dialogue between Moldova and the United States. 

The program of the visit also included a series of meetings with high-ranking American officials, representatives of the U.S. business environment, as well as with Moldovan citizens living in Washington, DC.