A Moldovan court has sentenced Vladimir Plahotniuc, a former opposition leader and one of the country's wealthiest businessmen, to 19 years in prison for his role in a $1 billion bank fraud that destabilised the nation more than a decade ago. The Buiucani District Court in Chișinău found the 60-year-old guilty on charges including creating and participating in a criminal organisation, fraud, and money laundering.
The theft, which took place in 2014, involved the disappearance of around $1 billion from three Moldovan banks – a sum equivalent to roughly an eighth of the country's annual GDP at the time. Prosecutors alleged that Plahotniuc received $39 million and €3.5 million of the stolen funds through companies controlled by fellow oligarch Ilan Shor.
Case prosecutor Alexandru Cernei told reporters that the state had sought a maximum sentence of 25 years and would pursue $60 million in damages. Plahotniuc, who was not present for the sentencing, has consistently denied any wrongdoing and described the case as politically motivated. His lawyer, Lucian Rogac, called the ruling “unlawful” and said an appeal would be filed, adding: “We didn’t expect a different ruling, given that the entire process was marred by serious violations.”
Plahotniuc fled Moldova for the United States in June 2019 after failing to form a government with his Democratic Party. He was detained in Greece in July last year and extradited to Moldova the following September, where he was placed in pre-trial detention. Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, welcomed the conviction, saying it proved that judicial reform works. “That a reformed court, with integrity-vetted judges, has now convicted him of running a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering is a milestone,” he wrote on Facebook.
Plahotniuc was declared persona non grata by the United States in 2020 and added to a US State Department sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption, including controlling law enforcement to target political rivals and interfering in elections. The UK also imposed sanctions in 2022, barring him from entering the country and freezing his assets. Moldova, a former Soviet republic, has increasingly aligned itself with the West, placing it at the centre of geopolitical tension between Russia and Europe.
