Chisinau court issues arrest warrant for opposition leader Ilan Shor in embezzlement case

A court in Chisinau has ordered the arrest of the former head of the Moldovan opposition bloc Pobeda, Ilan Shor, in the case of embezzlement of $100 million from the budget of Banca de Economii (BEM). This was reported on June 18 by the Moldovan newspaper Telegraph with reference to the Prosecutor's Office for combating Corruption.

"Investigators allege that between July 2013 and September 2014, while serving as chairman of the board of directors of SA Banca de Economii, Ilan Shor allegedly organized and coordinated a scheme to steal $100 million from the bank's assets," the newspaper writes.

Shor will be provisionally arrested for 30 days. The decision was made on June 17 in his absence at the request of the prosecutor's office. Shor was accused of organizing, instigating and co-authoring a crime related to the theft of foreign assets on a particularly large scale, committed by an organized criminal group (OCG).

The prosecution found that he actually controlled a number of financial and banking institutions through intermediaries, as well as supported decision-making at various levels necessary for the implementation of the scheme. The bank's funds were then transferred and used in the interests of an organized criminal group, including through the use of forged documents.

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Igor Dodon, the former president of the republic and leader of the opposition Party of Socialists, said on June 3 that the arrests of opposition politicians in Moldova, as well as the verdict of the head of the Gagauz Autonomy, Yevgenia Gutsul, speak of megalomania among President Maia Sandu and her government.