Ilan Shor arrested in absentia over BEM’s $100 million embezzlement case
The Chisinau Court in Ciocana issued an arrest warrant for fugitive convict Ilan Shor in connection with the embezzlement of $ 100 million from the Moldovan Savings Bank (BEM).
According to the decision made on June 17, approval for the arrest was granted for 30 days.
Ilan Shor, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the "Theft of the Billion" case related to BEM, is accused of being the "organizer, instigator, and co-author of the crime of embezzling foreign assets," committed by multiple individuals within an organized criminal group on a large scale.
Prosecutors allege that between July 2013 and September 2014, while serving as the chairman of the BEM Board of Directors, Shor coordinated and organised a criminal group that devised a scheme to steal $100 million from the banking institution's assets.
He is also alleged to have exerted control, through intermediaries, over various financial and banking institutions and to have influenced the adoption of necessary administrative, legal, and economic decisions that facilitated the execution of this criminal plan.
The case is currently pending before the Central Court of Appeal, with a decision expected on July 8.
In 2024, Ilan Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison for bank fraud. He had fled the Republic of Moldova in the summer of 2019 and lived in Israel for some time. In 2024, he obtained Russian Federation citizenship, which has refused Moldova's extradition requests.
We remind you that Shor remained involved in politics in Chisinau even after fleeing the country. Initially, he did this through his party, which was named after him and declared unconstitutional in 2023. Later, he engaged with affiliated political organizations. The government in Chisinau accuses him of leading an "organized criminal group" that aims to destabilize the situation in the Republic of Moldova in the interests of the Russian Federation. Shor denies these accusations.
