Moldovaʼs richest man Volodymyr Plahotniuc convicted in ʼbillion-dollar theftʼ case

Moldovan oligarch and the countryʼs richest man Volodymyr Plahotniuc was sentenced to 19 years in prison by a court of first instance in Chisinau. He was found guilty on all counts: fraud, money laundering, and creating and managing a criminal organization.

This is reported by the local media outlet NewsMaker.md.

He must also pay the state $60 million. The prosecutor in the case stated that all arrests on Plahotniucʼs property have been preserved — its value exceeds a billion lei.

The theft of €1 billion from three Moldovan banks — “Banca de Economii”, “Banca Socială”, and “Unibank” — became known at the end of November 2014. After that, the National Bank introduced a special administration in these banks, and later the authorities decided to liquidate them (the banks are currently in the process of liquidation).

The state prosecutor, who had previously requested a 25-year prison sentence for Plahotniuc, said he would decide whether to appeal the sentence. The convictʼs lawyer called the decision "clearly illegal" and said the defense would appeal.

Who is Volodymyr Plahotniuc?

In addition to being the richest person in Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc was the first vice-speaker of the Parliament of Moldova (from December 30, 2010 to February 15, 2013). He was a deputy of the Moldovan Parliament twice. His Democratic Party has been in power since 2014, but later discredited itself due to corruption. In the parliamentary elections in 2021, it failed to enter parliament, and in the last ones in 2025, it did not participate.

Plahotniuc fled Moldova in June 2019 and lived in the United States for a long time, but in January 2020 his stay there was deemed undesirable.

On February 7, 2025, Interpol put Plahotniuc on the international wanted list. On July 22, 2025, he was detained in Greece. Together with him, former Democratic Party MP Konstantin Tsoutsa, who was considered Plahotniucʼs confidant for many years, was also detained at the Athens airport. On September 25, Plahotniuc was extradited to Moldova.

In addition to fraud and money laundering, he is also considered in Moldova to be involved in an attempt to destabilize the country. Plahotniuc is under sanctions by the US and the European Union.

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