Moldova's influential business magnate and former lawmaker Vladimir Plahotniuc is facing charges over a $1 billion bank fraud after his extradition from Greece this week. Plahotniuc was escorted by police out of an airplane after his extradition to Chisinau on Thursday.
Considered to be one of Moldova's richest men, Plahotniuc is among chief suspects in disappearance of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system in 2013, known as the "theft of the century". The fraud amounted to the equivalent of 12% of the country’s GDP at the time.
He was detained on July 21 at the Athens airport on an Interpol red notice while boarding a plane bound to Dubai. According to Interpol notice, Plahotniuc held 16 passports, including from Romania, Mexico and Russia. He was held two months in Greece before being extradited to Moldova. Plahotniuc had denied charged leveled against him and resisted extradition. He will stand trial in Chisinau on September 26. The influential oligarch fled Moldova in 2019 while facing a number of investigations, including the bank fraud.
The 59-year-old tycoon’s arrest came days before the high-stake parliamentary election in the ex-Soviet country that is struggling with economic difficulties and corruption and has to choose between the closer ties with the European Union or a pivot towards Russia.
