Did This 28-Year-Old Banker Help Steal $1 Billion From Moldova?

Three of the biggest banks in Moldova reached the brink of collapse in November after suffering losses totaling $1 billion—a shocking sum in an impoverished Eastern European country with a gross domestic product of less than $8 billion.

Now shock is turning to anger. In a report made public this week, investigators from the corporate risk-management firm Kroll pointed to a group of companies and individuals the report says are connected to a wealthy 28-year-old Moldovan banker named Ilan Shor. According to the report, the alleged conspirators may have surreptitiously taken control of the banks and then lent themselves nearly $1 billion, collateral-free. The money was spirited out of Moldova and into offshore bank accounts, according to the report. Records of many transactions were deleted from the banks’ computers, and some documents were allegedly loaded into a vehicle that was reported stolen and destroyed in a fire a few hours later.