Publication: „Moldova as a case study of new money laundering patterns. Lessons to learn and implications for the EU” by Sergiu Gaibu and Andres Knobel
In their joint policy paper Sergiu Gaibu, Programme Director at the Moldovan Think-Tank Expert-Grup, and Andres Knobel, lawyer and independent consultant of the Tax Justice Network, analyse money laundering practices in Moldova as a case study for the role of state institutions in illegal financial transactions.
The authors point out that the involvement of the judicial system in the whitewashing of illicit money poses a major challenge for a successful fight against money laundering. Under the “Russian Laundromat”-scheme Moldovan courts have facilitated the transfer of illicit money by declaring it a lawful debt repayment between companies. Drawing lessons from this case, the authors suggest a revision of existing anti-money laundering measures to address these new patterns. Among these measures are the training of judges to detect and resist possible money laundering schemes, the establishment of an international team of experts to assess new patterns of money laundering and an adjustment and stronger enforcement of the mentioned international Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations.
The policy paper is published in the framework of the Berlin Policy Hub project. The project is part of the “Europeanization beyond process”-Initiative. It is supported by the Open Society Foundations and aims at fostering the network between researchers from Eastern Partnership countries and their international counterparts.
