Bank fraud and justice: The price of corruption in Moldova
Corruption, described as a "chronic disease," can only be controlled through the exemplary conduct of state institutions and the prosecution of well-documented, high-quality cases.
This is the opinion of lawyer Alexandru Bot, speaking on the Bună Dimineața programme on Moldova 1, who argued that although corruption convictions are increasing, public perception remains distorted by how cases are presented in the media.
The expert noted that although the fight against corruption starts with every citizen, justice reform must follow a steady course and be implemented through a clear, stable strategy, regardless of political changes.
"I don't agree that convictions are few. Rather, a case is often widely publicised at the initial stage—the start of the criminal investigation—but is not tracked through to its conclusion. By the time the investigation is finished, the case sent to court, and subsequently debated, what was reported during the investigation is often much more, let's say, exaggerated than what is actually on paper," the expert said.
Bot added that certain high-profile cases must be handled with greater responsibility and concluded with clear rulings to restore society's confidence in the judiciary.
"There are also high-profile cases that need to be investigated. I hope work is being done on this, because so far, we haven't seen, for example, a conclusion in the case concerning bank fraud that would allow us to say these phenomena won't be repeated in the Republic of Moldova. Yet, they are recurring with an almost cyclical frequency. Let's recall the 2011 Investprivatbank case, the first major bank fraud, followed by the 'Theft of the Billion.' We hope there will be no further instability in the banking system that could lead to another crisis dubbed 'The Theft of the Century.'" Alexandru Bot stated.
At the same time, the expert cautioned that the judiciary should deliver legally-motivated sentences, not just decisions that are "socially demanded." He highlighted the dependent relationship between prosecutors and judges, which undermines the independence of the judicial process.
"The justice system is very permissive and lenient towards prosecutors, in general. (...) This is unlike, for example, minor offense justice, where any minor error by the police officer is often, and rightly so, overturned by the judge. Consequently, if this 'filiation' (close link) between the prosecutor and the judge were eliminated, and if we gave up the rhetoric that a judge should 'sit down at the table' with the prosecutor to decide a case's fate, then we would indeed have a judiciary that could deliver not only socially demanded sentences but truly legally-motivated ones," Alexandru Bot affirmed.
Justice, medicine, and education: The sectors most affected by corruption
The lawyer stressed that the fight against corruption must remain a priority for the Republic of Moldova, even if the phenomenon is deeply rooted in society.
"Corruption is a chronic disease for us—one that we regrettably cannot eliminate, but which we can contain. (...) What we must implement is the power of example. That is, whenever our law enforcement agencies do their job well and set a clear example of investigating a corruption case, this will surely deter the spread of the phenomenon," the expert explained on the public television channel.
Alexandru Bot also specified that the phenomenon is "directly proportional to those spheres of the economy and social life that generate more money." The domains considered the "champions" of corruption in the Republic of Moldova are justice, medicine, and education.
"Where there are more funds, corruption will flourish more. And, two—where people are present, corruption will always flourish. In the Republic of Moldova, we generally like to regulate everything, everywhere. To create regulations for every trifle (minor detail). And then, only these regulations sometimes create barriers that are successfully exploited by certain officials, by certain individuals, to generate corruption situations. (...) I note that corruption is lately taking on new forms. While we previously paid a certain 'corruption tax' to circumvent the law, more recently, it turns out we are paying it for someone to respect the law," the expert pointed out.
Referring to electoral corruption, the expert stated that the authorities managed to keep this phenomenon under control during the 2025 parliamentary elections.
"We faced a very serious phenomenon during the presidential elections and the referendum. However, according to statistics from the Police and the National Anti-corruption Center, the phenomenon was controlled during the 2025 parliamentary elections and was neutralised, ensuring the validity of the elections was not even partially affected," concluded Alexandru Bot.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
