A new episode of the "bank fraud" case was sent to court; the ex-president of BEM and his special administrator will be in the dock.
The Prosecutor General's Office reported this, noting that a new charge was brought against the former acting chairman of Banca de Economii Viorel Birca, whose case was brought to court a week ago on charges of “embezzlement of other people's property on an especially large scale”. This time, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office announced the completion and transfer to the court of a criminal case on a different episode, separated from the case of the "bank fraud", in which the former interim chairman of Banca de Economii is accused together with the head of the National Bank's department - former BEM special administrator Ion Ropot. In particular, prosecutors collected evidence that in November 2014 these two, acting together with other members of a criminal group, allegedly stole $10 million and 8 million euros from interbank placements provided by Moldindconbank and Moldova Agroindbank for Banca de Economii. According to the materials, the guarantee for the return of these interbank placements was 35% of Victoriabank's shares, which were pledged by INSIDOWN LTD (Cyprus), an affiliate of Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor, in favor of Moldindconbank and Moldova Agroindbank, as well as pledge agreements. On November 28, 2014, at the expense of a state-guaranteed urgent loan, that is, from the state budget, the debt of Banca de Economii to Moldova Agroindbank and Moldindconbank in the amount of 8 million euros and $10 million was repaid. The operation took place without returning the money from the funds of the pledged property, which guaranteed the return of these placements, and the pledge - 35% of Victoriabank's shares - was released (canceled) in the interests of the criminal group. After being heard by the Prosecutor's Office on the charges, the two men did not plead guilty. To compensate for the damage caused following the crime, the Prosecutor's Office seized 5 real estate objects of the accused with the possibility of their special confiscation in favor of the state. Former Acting BEM Chairman Viorel Birca was detained in early December 2020 along with 5 other persons, including the former heads of 3 bankrupt banks (Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Socială), as well as representatives of the Shor holding. Since then, the defendant has been under house arrest. At the same time, the former BEM special administrator, the current head of the National Bank's department, Ion Ropot, was detained on March 11 and then placed under arrest. The Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases is currently investigating his activities for “abuse of office” in the management of bank guarantees provided by the NBM to Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Socială. The Prosecutor General's Office noted that the criminal investigation is ongoing, and the Prosecutor's Office will provide additional information on the measures taken and the results obtained, and also recalled that any person is considered innocent until a final court decision is approved. // 24.03.2021 - InfoMarket.
