Former Banca de Economii (BEM) chairman Grigore Gacichevici has been sentenced to 13 years in prison in the high-profile case involving loans allegedly issued in violation of banking regulations between 2005 and 2012.
The verdict was delivered by Judge Ana Cucerescu of the Chișinău Court, Buiucani office.
Prosecutors had requested a 15-year prison sentence for Gacichevici and 13-year sentences for four other former members of BEM’s Credit Committee. They also asked the court to order the immediate arrest of all five defendants following the verdict.
According to the prosecution, the lending decisions approved by the defendants between 2005 and 2012 caused the bank losses estimated at nearly 3 billion lei. In addition to recovering the damages, prosecutors sought to ban all five from holding positions in the banking sector for five years.
Separately, investigators allege that during his tenure, Gacichevici accepted illegal payments in exchange for facilitating the approval of loans and later engaged in money laundering by transferring proceeds from the alleged criminal activity abroad.
Gacichevici was detained one day before the verdict was delivered in the non-performing loans case involving Banca de Economii.