A Moldovan court sentenced business tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc in a $1 billion bank fraud case
FILE PHOTO. Vladimir Plahotniuc. © Sputnik / Miroslav Rotar
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Moldovan court has sentenced businessman and opposition politician
Vladimir Plahotniuc to 19 years in prison in a high-profile bank fraud
case.
The charges are related to a 2014 bank scandal in which $1
billion was siphoned from three of the largest financial institutions in
the country. Plahotniuc stood accused of receiving only a fraction of
the money, namely $39 million and €3.5 million ($4.1 million) from the
affected banks.
The politician fled the country in 2019 after
his Democratic Party lost the elections and has denied any wrongdoing,
insisting the case against him is politically motivated. He was arrested
in Greece in July last year and promptly extradited to Moldova to face
trial. Plahotniuc requested to be sent to Moldova rather than to Russia,
where he has been wanted since 2017 over a failed assassination attempt
on a banker.
Plahotniuc’s lawyer said the procedure against his client was rushed
and the verdict illegal. The ruling can be appealed within a two-week
period, yet it was not immediately clear whether his legal team will do
so.
The 2014 bank fraud affair, locally known as the “heist of the century,”
sent shockwaves through the political landscape of the ex-Soviet
nation, implicating many high-profile figures. Former Moldovan Prime
Minister and founder of the Democratic Party, Vlad Filat, was sentenced
to nine years for corruption and influence peddling in 2016, but was
released on parole in 2019. Filat has maintained his innocence,
repeatedly accusing his former ally Plahotniuc of fabricating the case
against him.
Another opposition politician and businessman, Ilan
Shor, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in 2023 over his role in
the bank fraud. Shor fled the country in 2019 and has remained abroad
ever since, first taking refuge in Israel and ultimately moving to
Russia, where he was granted citizenship. The businessman has long
maintained his innocence as well, insisting the charges against him are
politically motivated.