As part of the investigation of the "theft of a billion", a criminal case against the former special administrator of Unibank was completed and submitted to the court.
In particular, this was reported by the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases, noting that it had completed a criminal investigation and brought to court one of the criminal cases, which go under the general title "banking fraud with state-guaranteed funds", in relation to the special administrator Unibank, which in 2015 facilitated the fraudulent issuance of more than 75 million lei - money from state guarantees. In the course of the investigation, the involvement of the official of the National Bank appointed to manage Unibank in "abuse of office in the interests of a criminal organization" was proved. According to the law, this crime is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 3 to 7 years with the deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of 10 to 15 years. The prosecutor's office clarified that the accused held a leading position in the NBM in the field of preventing and combating money laundering, and in 2014-2015 he was appointed special administrator of Unibank to remedy the precarious financial situation in this institution as a result of “banking fraud”. In particular, it was found that the bank's financial situation did not meet the liquidity standards at that time, and the necessary measures should have been taken to remedy the situation. The special administrator had to determine the origin of funds in the accounts of Unibank depositors and determine whether the latter were affiliated with the bank and whether the funds were received in these accounts as a result of money laundering in the banking system. The administrator was supposed to inform the special commission on these issues to analyze the balances on the accounts of individuals and legal entities with private capital. However, according to the prosecutors, the special administrator ignored the necessary requirements and deliberately hid from the special commission the fact that more than 75 million lei from the accounts of a non-resident legal entity that were blocked came both from persons affiliated with the bank and as a result of bank fraud at Banca de Economii. Misleading the commission allowed the special administrator of Unibank to unblock the accounts; and taking into account the fact that at that time this bank did not have financial resources, the money was written off at the expense of state guarantees. The prosecutor's office notes that the actions were taken by the special administrator in conditions when information about "bank fraud" was already known in April 2015 from the Kroll-I report, and the unblocking and withdrawal of money took place in May 2015. This person is under investigation on the fact of abuse of office in the interests of a criminal organization. The actions of legal entities and individuals affiliated with the bank and the criminal organization through which the stolen money was transferred are investigated in a separate case due to its complexity and large volume of work. //20.12.2021 — InfoMarket.
