The great Moldovan bank robbery

[muriel_volestrangler]

It's a mystery that's thrown Europe's poorest nation into deep crisis - $1bn has vanished from three of Moldova's leading banks, much of it passing through UK companies. A confidential report has blamed 28-year-old businessman, Ilan Shor, but in an exclusive BBC interview he proclaims his innocence.
...
It says loans worth $1bn were transferred in just two days to a series of UK- and Hong Kong-registered companies - companies whose ultimate owners are unknown.

As a result, the state was forced to step in to bail the banks out - protecting depositors but creating a hole in the public finances equivalent to an eighth of GDP.
...
Vasile Sarco of Moldova's Office for Prevention of Money-laundering says the purpose of using UK-registered companies is to hide the beneficiaries of the funds. He's investigating not only the disappearance of the $1bn from the three banks, but also an earlier $20bn operation which laundered dirty money from Russia through Moldova into the EU.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33166383

A long article; the Moldavan banking system is up to its neck in fraud, by people who know how to hide money trails. They know which countries to launder it through - and one, shamefully, is the UK.

[bemildred]

1. KnR. nt