The periods of instability create enormous corruption opportunities that some can take to benefit personally, acting to the detriment of a large number of citizens. Even if measures were taken to counteract factors leading to fraud and money laundering, more should be yet done, while some of the flaws remain insufficiently addressed, said members of the Independent Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee (CCIA) who, in a news conference at IPN, presented the Russian version of their first report titled “The Offshore Republic”: Review of factors leading to systemic fraud and money laundering in Moldova’s banking”.

The report authors noted that since July until present, the Moldovan authorities and representatives of the private sector have taken a number of laudable actions to address the main problems presented in the report. At the end of July, a group of Moldovan MPs initiated the process of implementing a series of recommendations formulated in the CCIA report. They undertook to amend the national legislation so as to prevent the reappearance of money laundering schemes that earlier led to the collapse of the national banking system. Representatives of the Committee held a series of meetings with responsible authorities for the purpose of implementing the recommendations included in the first report.

The firm steps taken by the international community were equally crucial. The CCIA welcomes the sanctions imposed recently by the United States Department of the Treasury on fugitive oligarchs Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor, their accomplices and other persons. Recently, the Commission for Exceptional Situations of the Republic of Moldova approved a mechanism for monitoring the actions of the persons added to the U.S. sanctions list.

The Committee’s co-chair James Wasserstrom told the news conference that the report presents the first part of the work done by the Committee. The first report was made public in July this year, while the next report will be published in February 2023. The second and most part of the work centers on the addressing of flaws. This will include the monitoring of implementation of recommendations.

Founded by presidential decree in June 2021, the Independent Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee is a joint independent international and national body. Its main purpose is to analyze systemic corruption issues that cut across Moldovan institutions and improve implementation of anti-corruption measures by the relevant parties. The Committee performs research based on reliable facts and sources, then publishes its recommendations to optimize the effectiveness of the efforts of the Republic of Moldova in leading the fight against corruption. Subsequently, the CCIA assesses the implementation of measures by state actors and stakeholders and renders the findings public.