Someone stole $1 billion from Moldova, Europe's poorest state. That's an eighth of its GDP

[Swineflu]

[quote]When thousands filled the streets of Moldova's capital on Sunday, their complaint was pretty significant.
Late last year, about $1 billion disappeared in an apparent banking scandal that’s mystified Europe’s poorest country.
To put that sum into perspective, it’s an eighth of the country’s GDP. In United States terms, that portion of the economy would add up to more than $2 trillion.
The money reportedly vanished in a series of murky loans dealt out last November by three major banks — one of them state-owned — to as yet unknown recipients.
Many Moldovans are mad about all this.
They say it’s symptomatic of the widespread corruption that’s plagued their country since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
That’s also why Sunday’s protest was about more than just missing money. It drew at least 10,000 demonstrators, police said. If that sounds unimpressive, consider that there are just 3.5 million people in Moldova.
Igor Botan, a political analyst and a member of the grassroots movement that organized Sunday’s protest, believes the pro-European ruling coalition was complicit in the crime.
“Our country is a poor and agrarian country,” he told GlobalPost on Monday. “But it’s home to decent people who want their country to flourish, to be closer to European standards, and for it to find its economic niche alongside the European Union.” [/quote]
[URL="http://www.globalpost.com/article/6537732/2015/05/04/moldova-protest-stolen-1-billion"]Source[/URL]
[IMG]http://www.dw.de/image/0,,18427252_303,00.jpg[/IMG]

[Gatsby]

So much money that was used for so many people, taken away for only a couple few less than the flags waved around in that photo.

Why are things like this? Why is there such supreme greed and corruption in our world?

[mutant]

That's just awful. That's such a huge loss for a country like Moldova that the people will probably feel it.

[editline]7th May 2015[/editline]

Hopefully they find the people that stole it, as unlikely as that is.

[Swineflu]

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;47675161]That's just awful. That's such a huge loss for a country like Moldova that the people will probably feel it.

[editline]7th May 2015[/editline]

Hopefully they find the people that stole it, as unlikely as that is.[/QUOTE]
Nah, those money are long gone. It was stolen with government cooperation.

I think oligarchs are trying to take whatever they can out of the country, while they can. Cause Moldova ain't gonna last much longer in the state it is now. It's going into an economic recession, the already poor people are earning even less, the prices are increasing, and the country has absolutely no chance of joining the EU. No hope for it.
Either Russian influence will make the country go full-on russian government and go towards CIS, or Romanian/western influence will lead to a Romanian/Moldova unification.