Former National Bank of Moldova (NBM) employee Ruslan Grate has been found guilty by the first instance court of abuse of office and sentenced to five years in prison, to be served in a semi-closed penitentiary. He has also been ordered to pay over 75 million lei in damages and is banned from holding public office for the next 15 years. Until a final decision is issued, Grate is prohibited from leaving the Republic of Moldova. The ruling was delivered on June 16 and can be appealed within 15 days.

Ruslan Grate is accused of turning a blind eye in 2015 to the release of 78 million lei from UNIBANK to the entity Fortex Opportunities LP, allegedly affiliated with the Ilan Shor group. Prosecutors argue that the administrator committed this act despite the fact that information regarding the "bank fraud" was already known as of April 2015 from the "Kroll I" report, while the funds were unblocked and withdrawn in May 2015.

At the time, Grate held the position of deputy head of the Directorate for the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering within the National Bank. As the special administrator of Unibank, he was obligated to inform the Special Commission responsible for analyzing account balances of private individuals and legal entities about this suspicious transaction. According to prosecutors, he disregarded this obligation and "intentionally concealed the fact that the blocked funds in the account of a non-resident legal entity originated both from persons affiliated with the bank and from the ‘bank fraud’ at Banca de Economii."

The former NBM official pleads not guilty.

In December 2024, the trial court rejected as unfounded Ruslan Grate’s lawsuit challenging the National Bank’s decision to suspend his employment contract. Accused of links to schemes tied to Ilan Shor, Grate contested the decision made by the Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, Anca Dragu. She stated that it was a matter of principle, saying: "You cannot have an employee who is indicted and suing the institution while still having access to it."

The court’s decision, issued on December 18, can be appealed to the Chișinău Court of Appeal within 30 days from the date the ruling was pronounced.