Starting in the spring of 2015, Moldova experienced large-scale protests amid a worsening economic situation and corruption scandals. The protests gained momentum in September, when up to 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest protest since Moldova's independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991.

In 2014, $1 billion disappeared from three Moldovan banks: Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Socială. This bank fraud in Moldova was a coordinated effort involving all three banks working together to extract as much loan finance as possible from the banks without any obvious business rationale. Ilan Shor, a Moldovan businessman, "masterminded" the scam. Shor was chairman of the board at Banca de Economii up to November 28, 2014.