Who Are the Main Beneficiaries of the Stolen Billion?

Alexandru Slusari, the chairman of the Commission of Inquiry charged with clarifying the circumstances of the devaluation of the Moldovan banking system and investigating banking fraud, claims that on September 20 he received a partial list naming people included in the Kroll 2 Report. 

According to the documents Slusari received, the main beneficiary of bank fraud in Moldova is the country’s richest oligarch and the former leader of the Democratic Party, Vlad Plahotniuc. On Slusari’s list, the beneficiaries that come up right after Plahotniuc are former Prime Minister Vlad Filat and the former mayor of Orhei, businessman Ilan Shor.

“The document states that Vlad Plahotniuc and his companies are the main beneficiaries of the theft. Vlad Filat’s group comes up next. There is also mention of the amounts they benefited from. The names of Ilan Shor, Ilona Shor, Marina Tauber, Regina Apostolova, Vadim Fotescu, and Gabriel Stati are also reported on the list. Furthermore, companies affiliated with Plahotniuc appear in the document. Olga Bondarciuc’s name is featured repeatedly, with links to both Plahotniuc and Shor,” Slusari said.

According to Slusari, there are also several names lesser-known in the public sphere.

“Some of the names that appear here are only partially known. There are several suspicious names. Plahotniuc’s name is not the only one that appears in the document,” Slusari said.

Slusari claimed that the list he received does not include the name of the husband of the Speaker of the Parliament, Zinaida Greceanîi.

“The documents we have do not include Zinaida’s Greceani’s husband. We will study them all and find out, but we have not seen his name here,” Slusari confirmed. 

The Commission’s investigation report on fraud in the banking system is set to be ready for October 15, 2019. According to Slusari, the members of the Commission could then request the declassification of all the materials on this case. 

The Kroll 2 Report was published on July 4, 2019 by the Commission of Inquiry. The released document does not contain the list of persons involved in the bank fraud, although it contains details on how 2.9 billion dollars disappeared from the Moldovan banking system. 
The full Kroll 2 Report from July 4, 2019 can be read here.