September 22 2016
Sixteen judges and four court bailiffs have been accused by Moldovan anti-corruption prosecutors of involvement in the notorious Russian Laundromat, a massive money-laundering scheme that siphoned an estimated US$ 20 billion in dirty money from Russia into the European Union and other locations.
Prosecutors in Chisinau said that 17 of the accused were arrested on Tuesday and one additional suspect on Wednesday. One of the judges, who has been living abroad for some time, has not been apprehended, while one of the bailiffs cannot be located.
Reporters for OCCRP and its partners, RISE Project in Romania and RISE Moldova, revealed that between 2010 and early 2014, organized criminals and corrupt politicians in Russia moved billions of dollars through dozens of offshore companies, banks, fake loans, and proxy agents. The process was then certified as “clean” by judges in Moldova and the clean funds dispersed across Europe and other locations.