Something fishy ... Banca de Economii (pictured above) is one of the three banks involved in loaning more than $1 billion to unidentified beneficiaries. Picture: AFP
THE disappearance of more than $1 billion from three Moldavian banks has nearly crippled the tiny former Soviet country’s economy, and its people wants answers.
The huge sum of money accounts for nearly 20 per cent of Moldova’s banking system in terms of assets, and represents an eighth of its entire gross domestic product, according to Reuters.
The case of the missing money only came to light after the Central Bank of Moldova found that three banks had given out loans totalling more than $1 billion.
The banks involved — Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank — control about a third of all bank assets in the country, including pension payments.
About 10,000 people flocked to the streets of Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, on Sunday to demand the money is returned.
Huge consequences ... The banks involved in loaning more than $1 billion to unaccounted beneficiaries, Banca de Economii, Banca Sociala and Unibank, also control about a third of all bank assets in the country, including pension payments. Picture: AFP
The head of the central bank, Dorin Dragutanu, said foreign investigators would be appointed by the end of May in the second phase of a probe into the loss of the money.
The money was reportedly siphoned off over the course of a few days, just ahead of the nation’s November elections. The recipients have not yet been identified, and it is feared the money may never be recovered.
According to a parliamentary committee’s report, leaked to the press, some of the money is believed to have landed up in Russian banks.
Since the money went missing, anti-corruption prosecutors and American auditors have been searching the books for clues about the mysterious transactions, which have caused an embarrassment for the ex-Soviet state on track to receive an EU membership.
Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova has a population of 3.5 million and is a poor nation which relies on exporting of food, animal and vegetable products and textiles.
It become became an independent nation after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
Two thirds of the Moldovians are of Romanian descent, and the main languages spoken are Russian and Moldovian.
Strained ... Moldova is a poor, ex-Soviet country which relies on exports of food, animal and vegetable products and textiles. Picture: AFP
In 2011, a report by the World Health Organisation also revealed that citizens of Moldova held the title of the world’s biggest drinkers, drinking the equivalent of more than 18 litres of pure alcohol per year — more than three times the global average of 6.1 litres per person, per year,
Much of the alcohol confused was of the bootleg variety, the report said.
Credit to Herald Sun
No comments:
Post a Comment