Money from Moscow, laundered in the West, passed through Chisinau. We have studied hundreds of documents and bank account statements and decided to follow their path and reveal those who ensured the functioning of the scheme on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, which became an important link in the Russian Laundry chain. Thus, together we shall identify those who benefited from Magnitsky Laundromat in Chisinau and the link between this Russian laundry and Russian Laundromat and the Billion Theft from Moldovan banks.

The Magnitsky Law, adopted by US Senate on December 6, 2012 andsigned by president Obama on December 14, 2012, shattered international arena and started the greatest diplomatic war between Moscow and Washington, after the "Cold War". Pursuant to this law, the US have applied personal sanctions against Russian officials thought guilty of the fact that on November 16, 2009, a Russian auditor, Serghei Magnitsky, died in  Matrosskaya Tishina prison in Moscow.  Shortly, the US sanctions have been replicated,and Canada, Sweden, Latvia and other Western states applied similar measures. Being an employee of Firestone Duncan consulting company, Serghei Magnitsky was arrested by Russian MVD (MoI) in November 2008, after he revealed a scheme used for large-scale theft,  230 million USD (5,4 bln Russian roubles), from the state budget of Russian Federation.

The money stolen from the Russian budget in 2007-2008 by fraudulent VAT restitution, supported by officials from two tax inspectorates in the capital of Russia and covered by Moscow's MoI, has been laundered in the West under protection of Russian special services, through a Russian Laundry, similar to the one implemented in 2010-2014. Contracted by Hermitage Capital Management investment fund, whose taxes were frauded in the scheme, the auditor Serghei Magnitsky managed to reveal the fraud. It determined his destiny, and his name became famous in the whole world. However, the fame costed him his life. Fraudulent VAT restitutions in Moscow and laundering of money in the West continued after Magnitsky's death as well.

Just like the Russian Laundromat in 2010-2014, Magnitsky's Laundromat had its own laundering program, but functioned following the same principles, being under protection of Russian special services. FSB's section "K" started the criminal case against Magnitsky immediately after the scheme was revealed. This case deferred fraud investigation on the territory of the Russian Federation. The one who revealed the fraudulent scheme ended up under investigation himself.

About half of the 230 mln USD from Magnitsky's Laundromat, over 113 mln USD, have been laundered through the Republic of Moldova. Just like in the case of Russian Laundromat of 2010-2014, the key task of Moldovan jurisdiction was to turn Russian roubles into hard currency and forward the money to the West. Russian special services coordinated both operations and these were elements of Russia's hybrid war in the region, meant to consolidate its geopolitical influence. Besides laundering the money, special services from Moscow wanted to use the centrifuges of the laundries to attack the financial and banking system of Moldova, generate social and economic instability in the country and change the power in Chisinau for another one, loyal to the Kremlin.

After the plan to remove Vladimir Voronin(who in 2003 torpedoed Kozak's plan of federalization for Moldova that was to happen after parliamentary elections in 2005) from power failed, Russian special services prepared a devastating blow for Voronin's regime for 2009, the year of the next parliamentary elections. The operation was to take place in two stages: 1) social and economic destabilization of the country in 2007-2008 and 2) making use of destabilized country by changing the power after the elections in 2009.

The FSB agent Veaceslav Platon was designated responsible for implementation of the plan. After 2005, he was no longer in the good books for Vladimir Voronin, and this was a perfect opportunity for revenge. To accomplish the mission received from Moscow headquarters, the one who the CIS press already dubbed "raider no1 in CIS" chose to target Banca de Economii (BEM), a systemic bank of the country, where the state owned the control package of shares.

Veaceslav Platon divides his attack against the Moldovan financial and banking system in two parts: 2007 and the decisive step in 2008, the year before the elections. He used the cover of CBM governor Leonid Talmaci and the assistance of Grigore Gacikevici, the president of Banca de Economii, to begin a comprehensive campaign to diminish the value of the state's bank.

The method was a classical one, that was to be applied repeatedly in three years' time, in 2010-2014: granting non-performing loans. Grigore Gacikevici, member of PCRM and municipal councillor in Chisinau elected on the lists of Party of Communists, provided protection in PCRM. Gacikevici is close to Veaceslav Platon. Until 2004, he was a member of the administrative board of “InvestPrivatBank”, where Platon was deputy chair.

To make sure that Voronin would not make trouble to the scheme, on September 6, 2007, loyalty of the leader of communists was bought by a 12 million leiloan from Banca de Economii. In autumn of 2007, the party received two more tranches. Total amount of loan that PCRM received from BEM was 22 mln lei (about2 mln USD).

Having ensured loyalty of the communist government, Platon and Gacikevici, covered by Talmaci, begin to grant non-performing loans massively. Thus, for the first time after many years of profitable activity, Banca de Economii reported hundreds of millions of lei as losses for 2007 and 2008.

The most curious thing is the fact that not only the communist government, that viewed Banca de Economii as a milking cow, tolerated devaluation of the state's bank, but also the private shareholders, who seemed to have turned a blind eye to having their property stolen. The explanation is quite simple: they acted together with Veaceslav Platon. Their loyalty was bought for millions of dollars, tens of times more than the dividends they would receive from the bank's profit.

The greatest private shareholder in Banca de Economii was its president in 1999-2001 Viorel Topa, who controlled 18.5% of BEM shares. According to a report of the Court of Auditors of June 26, 2002, Viorel Topa took from the bank 66.8 mln lei (5.8 mln USD) through the offshore company “Sparks Management Corporation” on August 19-31, 2001.

Viorel Topa was a good friend of Platon since 2001. Together with his close person, minister of transport in Tarlev 1 communist government, Victor Topa, since 2005 Viorel Topa took under control VictoriaBank as well. Supported by Viorel Topa, through a fraudulent loan granted by BEM, Victor Topa managed to privatize Air Moldova state company as well in March 2000. In August 2007, Victor Topa, who meanwhile took under control ASITO insurance company, also appropriates pursuant to a raider attack the shares of the former deputy president of VictoriaBank, Galina Proidisvet, and becomes the major shareholder of the bank.

Thus, Victor and Viorel Topa, together wuth Veaceslav Platon, who had MoldIndConBank and InvestPrivatBankunder control since 1994, now control more than 50% of the financial and banking system. Moved by a spirit of vendetta and revenge against the leader of communists Vladimir Voronin, who removed the two Topa from the management of Banca de Economii and ministry of transport in 2001, Victor and Viorel Topa easily supported Veaceslav Platon's plan to "de-throne" Voronin, approved by Kremlin.

Meanwhile, having ensured aiding and abetting of the state bank's management and of the private shareholders, Veaceslav Platon proposed Banca de Economii to FSB for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in Magnitsky Laundromat. The laundry was to ensure the transfer of dirty money from Moscow into the West, and also provide financial centrifuge that was to bring down Moldovan financial and banking system, as well as fund the overthrow and settlement of a new power in Chisinau, one loyal to the Kremlin.

Further, Veaceslav Platon would apply his favourite method, the financial carousel. In July 2007, Veaceslav Platon incorporated two shell companies, SRL „Bunicon-Impex” and SRL „Elenast-Com” and opened bank accounts for them in branch no1 of Banca de Economii in Chisinau. As directors and the only fictitious founders of the two companies, we see the residents of Transnistrian region: Bunikovski Vladimir Petrovici and Stinga Elena Pavlovna. The two shell companies in Chisinau, belonging to Platon, were to become the trampoline from Moscow to the West for the money stolen from Russia's state budget, revealed by Serghei Magnitski.

In parallel, by media trust “Jurnal de Chișinău”, which was under their control since 2003, in September 2007, Victor and Viorel Topa get a new propagandistic voice. CCA in Chisinau deprived Romanian Television Company of the right to broadcast TVR1 on national frequency 2. The frequency is granted to the British company „TLF M International”, that owns „2 Plus” TV channel, where the director is Razvan Paveliu, no one else but Viorel Topa's brother-in-law, his sister, Diana Topa's husband. (vezi aici).

At the beginning of November 2007, the first transfers of Russian roubles begin to flow from Moscow. On the account of SRL „Bunicon-Impex” in Banca de Economii the first hundreds of millions of roubles are transferred. The transfers come from the Russian company „Millitaun Limited”, KB CK – Bank OOO bank. The destination of transfer was "payment for construction materials". Further, SRL „Bunicon-Impex” converts Russian roubles in US dollars and transfers them abroad, to companies in off-shore areas, British Virgin Islands, Belize, as well as some European jurisdictions, such as Latvia and Lithuania. Thus, Veaceslav Platon tested the scheme that will repeat in the Russian Laundromat three years later.

Immediately after that, on November 2, 2007, Banca de Economii noticed the suspicious transfer and alerted the AML Service of the CCECC with a note. Veaceslav Platon covers the scheme through the deputy head of the Service, Mihail Gofman, who he paid every month with an envelope full of tens of thousands of dollars. Gofman becomes Platon's man and protector of Magnitsky Laundromat in the CCECC. Thus, Veaceslav Platon would learn about the actions of law enforcement authorities in Chisinau that could become a threat to the scheme in real time. Correspondingly, he immediately learned about the alert that came to CCECC from BEM. Gofman did not intervene, did not block the suspicious transaction and allowed the money from Magnitsky Laundromat to flow further.

It is only three weeks later, after Platon warned the FSB patrons in Moscow, that on November 20, 2007, the CCECC Service headed my Mihail Gofman will send a letter to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russian Federation "to establish the origin of funds". Naturally, Russian authorities had no reaction whatsoever to the CCECC letter from Chisinau, as Magnitsky Laundromat was under protection of Russian special services.

On February 12, 2008, Banca de Economii sent another alert to the AML Service of CCECC. This time it was about suspicious transfers of hundreds of millions of roubles from Russia to SRL„Elenast-Com”. The transfers were coming from Moscow bank accounts in Moskovskii Filial OAO NAB Krainiy Sever. The accounts belonged to companies Kareras Limited INN, OOO Starmiks INN, Rosina Limeted INN. Destinations of transfers was the same: "payment for construction materials". SRL „Elenast-Com” also immediately converted Russian roubles into US dollars and transferred them abroad, to partners in off-shore areas, British Virgin Islands and Belize.

Goffman's Service does not interfere again and does not block suspicious transfers. It reacts exactly the way it reacted in 2007, a week after it received the alert from Banca de Economii, on February 18, 2008, it sends another letter to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of the Russian Federation „to establish the origin of funds”. This letter had the same destiny as the previous one.

Under the pretext that „the Russian counterparts did not react to the request and there were no suspicions identified with regard to the origin of funds”, Mihail Gofman covers up and archives the case. Miraculously, immediately after this, Banca de Economii hired Mihail Gofman's brother, Alexei Gofman, and appointed him responsible for granting loans and managing the collaterals. In 2011, he is promoted, and becomes a councillor to the president of BEM Grigore Gacikevici. This move allowed Veaceslav Platon to take the process of granting non-performing loans at Banca de Economii under control since 2008. Thus, he became the coordinator of devaluation of the bank.

Meanwhile, having tested the scheme, SRL „Bunicon-Impex” received on its account in Banca de Economii within 3 days, between February 4 and 6, 2008, 6 transfers from OAO NAB KRAINII SEVER in Moscow, from the correspondent account in ALFA-BANK Moscow 637 888 600.00 Russian roubles. The transfers were "payment for construction materials", according to contract no 24/08 of February 1, 2008.  SRL „Bunicon-Impex” converts Russian roubles into dollars and within four days, between February 5 and 8, 2008, transfers 27 375 589.00 USD from Banca de Economii in Chisinau to various foreign jurisdictions: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, Hong Kong , South Korea. Some of the already laundered money returned to Russian Federation. Destination of transfers: „advance payment for construction materials and equipment”. 1.2 mln USD from the account of SRL „Elenast-Com” in Banca de Economii are transferred to the Latvian bank Rietumu Banka, in the account of off-shore company, registered in Panama, Kelway Trading SA. Remember the name of this company as it will go through our investigation as a red thread! (see doc)

At the same time, on the account in Banca de Economii of the other shell-company that belonged to Veaceslav Platon, SRL„Elenast-Com”, between February 8 - 13, 2008, 10 transfers, amounting to 656 585 000.00 Russian roubles, were made from the same bank in Moscow, OAO NAB KRAINII SEVER, from the correspondent account in ALFA-BANK Moscow. Between February 28 and April 23, 2008, on the same account in Banca de Economii, belonging to SRL „Elenast-Com”, other 35 transfers came in from Russia, amounting to 200 113 800.00 Russian roubles, from the Russian accounts of KPP OOO PRIMARI in OAO BANK MOSKVY.

Further, SRL „Elenast-Com” converts Russian roubles into US dollars, and between Fenruary 7 and June 25, 2008, transfers from its account in Banca de Economii 37 046 875.00 USD to various foreign jurisdictions: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Belgium, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Jordan, China. Some of this money returned to Russia. The transfers again are "advance payment for construction materials and equipment".

Altogether, SRL „Bunicon-Impex” received in into account in Banca de Economii 1,597,134,646.00 Russian roublesfrom Moscow. Afterwards, 66.206.908,00 USD were transferred abroad.

SRL „Elenast-Com” received in its bank account in Banca de Economii altogether 866,285,000.00 Russian roubles, transferred from Moscow. It converted them and transfered 37,050,420.00 USDabroad.

After the Magnitsky Laundromat banking operations, 35 mln lei remained in Banca de Economii as commissions for currency conversion and account management. Besides the money withdrawn from Banca de Economii in February 2008 into Latvian accounts of Kelway Trading SA offshore company, the commissions from Magnitsky Laundromat will also be withdrawn from the bank through non-performing loans granted by Grigore Gacikevici. This money was for Veaceslav Platon's plan, coordinated by Russian special services, to destabilize the Republic of Moldova and change the power in Chisinau.

After the Magnitsky Laundromat and devaluation of Banca de Economii were set and ready, Platon gave another blow to Moldovan financial and banking system, bankruptcy of InvestPrivatBank, a bank that was under his control since 1994, where Gacikevici also worked until 2004, as a member of administrative board. In September 2008, by additional issue of shares purchased through the off-shore company Tabor Projects Ltd, Veaceslav Platon gives the bank to the Bucharest mogul, presently sentenced by Romanian justice, Sorin Ovidiu Vantu. Thus, Platon made the bank go bankrupt with other people's hands, acting together with Vantu. Just a few months after Sorin Ovidiu Vantul took the bank, the amount of non-performing loans granted by „InvestPrivatBank” exceeded 500 mln lei. Thus, the bank went bankrupt.

After Magnitsky Laundromat, on February 2, 2009, Platon's man, Mihail Gofman, is downgraded from the position of deputy head of AML Service, and in August 2009, he is transferred into the position of Head of Anticorruption Programs Unit at CCECC.

According to Platon's estimations, IPB's bankruptcy and devaluation of Banca de Economii through non-performing loans during the pre-electoral period was to bring into streets the deponents of InvestPrivatBank, destabilize social and economic situation Moldova, undermine Voronin's popularity and, ultimately, influence electoral preferences of Moldovan citizens.

Platon's plan was largely successful. In June 2009, CBM withdrew IPB's licence. To avoid social collapse, communist government decided that the private bank is to be taken by the state bank, Banca de Economii, which was already affected by non-performing loans granted by Gacikevici and Platon. To make things worse, BEM had to take the debts of „InvestPrivatBank” as well. The collapse at IPB and devaluation of BEM played a decisive role in erosion of trust into Voronin and his party.

As a result, after the elections on April 5, 2009, on the background of social and economic destabilization and attacks against financial and banking system operated by Veaceslav Platon, Russian special services start the diversionary operation "The 7th of April", which will become known as "Twitter Revolution". Using social networks, a group of professional diversionary lead by Eduard Baghirov, deployed to Chisinau from Moscow, manages to get students from Chisinau into the streets, mobilizing them against Voronin's communist regime. The young people were to constitute the manoeuvring mass, cannon fodder to be used for the plan of Russian special services to overthrow Voronin's power and replace it with one loyal to Kremlin.

On April 7, 2009, the diversionary of Russian special services diverted the peaceful protest of young people, devastated and set on fire the buildings of Presidency and Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. After the early elections on July 29, 2009, Voronin lost power in favour of Alliance for European Integration 1, built of Vlad Filat's LDPM, Alliance "Our Moldova", on whose lists Veaceslav Platon came into the Parliament, DP lead by Marian Lupu, who broke off from the Party of Communists, and Mihai Ghimpu's Liberal Party. A few weeks after, on September 25, 2009, Vlad Filat became prime-minister of the Republic of Moldova, the first person in the government in Chisinau. The plan, approved by special services from Moscow and diligently applied since 2007, successfully ended.

Shortly afterwards, some of the money from Magnitsky Laundromat, which Platon laundered through Banca de Economii, withdrawn from the Republic of Moldova threw Panamanian off-shore company Kelway Trading SA, together with the money stolen through InvestPrivatBankbankruptcy, would return to Chisinau to provide propagandistic support to the new power. On April 7, 2010, exactly a year after „Twitter Revolution”, two news TV channels, Jurnal TV that belonged to Victor and Viorel Topa, and Publika TV that belonged to Sorin Ovidiu Vantu, the one who bankrupted IPB, began their activities. In the coming years, Publika TV would be sold several times. First Filat-Lucinschi tandem took it from Vantu, and then it went to Plahotniuc. However, Jurnal TV will stay true to its financial parents, Veaceslav Platon and Victor and Viorel Topa. Regardless of the political agenda in Chisinau in recent years, Jurnal trust will become the main propagandistic weapon in political fights and revenge taken by its patrons, as well as one of the main defenders of Veaceslav Platon in press.

In the same year, 2010, the story of November 2007 in Banca de Economii repeated, following the same scheme. Downgraded in 2009, Mihail Gofman appealed against the downgrading order in court, and in December 2009 he was restored in his position. Just a few months after this, Veaceslav Platon would start in Chisinau a new round of money laundry, Russian Laundromat. Hundreds of millions of dollars came to Chisinau from Moscow, however, this time they came to Platon's „MoldIndConBank”. He no longer wanted to share the commissions for laundering the money from Russia. Moreover, he decided to use the Laundromat money to take under control the whole financial and banking system of Moldova.

In 2010, the conflict between the former partners in VictoriaBank, Victor and Viorel Topa and Vlad Plahotniuc, also begins. Veaceslav Platon played on it very skilfully. He kept contact with both sides of Topa-Plahotniuc war, and oscillated between them. On July 12, 2010, Platon's offshore company Ronida Invest LLP signs a contract (see DOC) with the same well-known Kelway Trading SA, based on which there will be several transfers of millions of dollars. Less than a month later, in August 2010, Victor and Viorel Topa publicly accused Plahotniuc of attacks against their shares, but they have not said a word about Veaceslav Platon.  They did that despite the fact that Victor and Viorel Topa's shares in Banca de Economii and Victoria bank have been under attack since May 2010, according to them, through economic courts and Causeni Court, under Platon. The price of their silence were transfers to Kelway Trading SA.

In August 2011, Platon takes „Moldova Agroinbank”, and in November 2011 he takes VictoriaBank from Plahotniuc and begins devaluation of this bank, using the same scheme that was used in BEM, non-performing loans. Immediately after that, on December 5, 2011, Platon makes another transfer (see DOC) to Kelway Trading SA, 5 mln dollars. It was again the price of Victor and Viorel Topa's silence.

At the same time, Vlad Filat gets control over Banca de Economii through the Ministry of Finance, which went to LDPM in the AEI 1. The most difficult time for BEM was about to begin. In 2010-2011, Veaceslav Platon, already a member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and member of AEI, sells non-performing loans taken from his “MoldIndConBank” by companies that were under his control as well, SA „MoldCarton”, „Fabrica de Carne din Ungheni” and other, to “Banca de Economii”. Thus, Platon cleared the loan portfolio of his bank and threw its debts on the shoulders of Banca de Economii.

Even though the power in Chisinau changed, the director of Banca de Economii was the same Grigore Gacikevici. The bank devaluation through non-performing loans continued. Using groups of companies belonging to profiteers Piotr Tomaili and Valentin Bodistean, affiliated to Vlad Filat, non-performing loans of hundreds of millions of lei begin to leave BEM. Companies like “Aroma” or „Moldresurse” have received millions of lei in loans from the state bank, and they had no intention whatsoever to pay them back. The loans were most often contracted via shell companies, and assets that did not cover even 10% of the loan were used as collateral. The value of the assets was artificially inflated due to accomplices in evaluation agencies. Loans were granted based on the decision of bank's president, Grigore Gacikevici, pursuant to Vlad Filat's personal intervention. The cost, or better to say kickback for such a loan, was 30% of its value. After the loan was contracted, 10% would get to Grigore Gacikevici, and 20% - to Vlad Filat (see details here).

Hundreds of millions of dollars continued to leave BEM. The 2010 - 2020 scheme of removing the money from Banca de Economii includes the same Panamanian offshore company that was involved in Magnitsky case, Kelway Trading SA. According to the report of December 6, 2012 following the audit at Banca de Economii by Grant Thornton (see DOC), „...destination of loans granted in 2010-2012 is purchase and import to the R. of Moldova of goods and materials. However, the case files lack proofs of import to the R. of Moldova of goods purchased using loans. Loan files only contain payment documents, according to which the funds were transferred to non-residents." Even though apparently there is no connection between them, these companies transferred money to the same offshore companies (Samerdale Holdings Ltd and Kelway Trading SA, Panama)

On June 1, 2012, authorities in Chisinau received a notification from Brown Rudnick law firm, contracted by Hermitage Capital Management investment fund to investigate Magnitsky's case. The notification said that billions of roubles transferred in 2007-2008 from Moscow into the accounts belonging to SRL „Bunicon-Impex” and SRL „Elenast-Com” in Banca de Economii come from the scheme used to steal money from the state budget of Russian Federation, involving Hermtiage” LTD, „Firestone Duncan”  OOO, „Mahaon” OOO, „Parfenion” OOO and „Riland” OOO. Serghei Magnitsky revealed this scheme in 2008. Russian special services that protected the scheme arrested him for that.

On July 20, 2012, NAC starts a criminal case on the fact of Magnitsky's case money laundering through Banca de Economii. On August 17, 2012, the investigators demanded that the Tax Inspectorate under Ministry of Finance carry out a fiscal inspection at SRL „Bunicon-Impex” and SRL „Elenast-Com”. This request, however, had the same destiny that the 2007 and 2008 requests to Moscow authorities had. No reaction from the Tax Inspectorate in Chisinau. Veaceslav Platon blocked the inspection through Vlad Filat. Ministry of Finance, and implicitly Tax Inspectorate, were under his control.

In February 2014, NAC started a criminal case on the fact of Russian Laundromat, and two months later, in April 2014, Mihail Gofman was dismissed from CNA "for violation of principles of moral integrity, respect and loyalty from the Code of Conduct of institution's employees".

Shortly afterwards, we would also learn why prime-minister Filat would get involved into blocking the investigation of Magnitsky Case. On September 12, 2014, Chairman of Parliamentary committee for economy, budget and finance in Chisinau, Veaceslav Ioniță, would make the scheme of theft from Banca de Economii public.

Using this scheme, the money was stolen from BEM through non-performing loans. The same offshore company, Kelway Trading SA, involved in Magnitsky Case as well, played a key role in the scheme. The person who revealed this information proved that the beneficiary of the offshore company is no one else, but prime-minister Vlad Filat.

Even then, in autumn of 2014, Russian Laundry functioned at its full capacity. Veaceslav Platon started it back in November 2007 by laundering the money in Magnitsky Case. It turned into Russian Laundromat in 2010. The billion stolen from Moldovan banking system also slipped away through the centrifuges of this laundry. The Panamanian offshore company Kelway Trading SA is not just the link between Russian Laundromat in Magnitsky Case and Billion Theft from Moldovan banks, it is also a documentary witness that reveals the beneficiaries of the two operations, the ones who covered the operation of Russian secret services, those who killed Serghei Magnitsky whilst being in Chisinau.

To be continued