The National Bank of Moldova does not have legal leverage to dismiss NBM employees accused in the case of “bank fraud” - Octavian Armasu
The President of the NBM stated this while answering questions from parliament deputies during a hearing on the progress of actions in the process of returning financial assets stolen from the banking system - an evolution of the “Theft of a Billion” case. He noted that the President of the NBM has no reason to dismiss employees just because they are involved in criminal cases, and he does not have access to these criminal materials. “I cannot judge their involvement and guilt. According to the law, if there is a need to remove them, the prosecutor’s office must decide this and file a complaint against these employees. As president, I have no reason to remove employees just because a criminal case has been filed against them. Accordingly, people remain in their posts until it is proposed to remove them from office or until they are convicted. We are not just sitting, we are observing these processes," the NBM President noted. According to him, a reorganization was carried out at the NBM so that persons involved in criminal cases do not have access to information and do not have a conflict of interest with the investigation being conducted against them. The head of the NBM admitted that the Central Bank bears the expenses of NBM employees for lawyers, because this is provided for by law. He recalled that there are many other situations when, while on duty, employees of the National Bank become targets of criminal cases. "We have had situations where people acted in good faith, but in the end criminal cases were opened against them. And we helped them, and we paid their lawyers. We should have this opportunity to be a kind of guarantee for the people who are involved in supervision, who have to make difficult decisions against people who may have influence. People must be protected. That's why this mechanism exists," told Octavian Armasu. During the hearing, Octavian Armasu said that he is aware that his work in this position bothers many people, emphasizing that the work of the NBM should be independent, and this causes a negative reaction among many. “I receive positive and supportive signals from the business community and citizens. This motivates me to complete my job,” said Octavian Armasu. He also emphasized that he does not know all the details regarding the bank fraud, since he was not then the president of the NBM. He then worked in the private sector, but now it belongs to the field of investigations, and he does not have access to the cases handled by prosecutors. Octavian Armasu admitted that fugitive oligarch Ilan Sor is one of those who benefited from bank fraud, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a related criminal case in 2023. However, he cannot name other names of the beneficiaries of the “theft of a billion”, because there are still no court decisions establishing their guilt, and the President of the National Bank cannot make unfounded statements, exceeding authority and breaking the law.// 21.12.2023 — InfoMarket
