CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have protested in Moldova's capital, calling on the government to properly investigate the up to $1.5 billion that disappeared from three banks last year.

Protesters yelled "we want the one billion back!" on Sunday, urging the central bank governor, the general prosecutor and others to resign.

Non-governmental organizations organized the protest and threatened to stage non-stop demonstrations.

The state-owned Savings Bank, the Social Bank and Unibank, where the money disappeared from before November 2014 parliamentary elections, were put under the National Bank of Moldova's administration in December, and the losses were covered by state reserves. The banks will be liquidated by October.

An unpublished parliamentary report said some of the money was transferred to Russian banks. The banks are owned by Moldovan and Russian investors.