Swindlers used the bankruptcy of a canned foods plant as a cover-up to steal $14.5 million from a bank in the breakaway Moldovan Republic of Transdnestr, RIA Novosti reported citing the Noi.md news website.

According to the Interior Ministry, the stolen sum was intended to pay off the debt of the Kamensky canned foods plant, which went bankrupt. The sum was transferred from Sberbank to offshore bank accounts.

The ministry also said it has reason to believe that the fraud was organized and carried out by some high-ranking officials, but neither specified their names nor if any arrests have been made so far.