The Buiucani District Court in Chisinau convicted Plahotniuc on Wednesday on charges of creating and participating in a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering, according to court officials. Prosecutors had requested a maximum sentence of 25 years, with the state also seeking $60 million in damages, prosecutor Alexandru Cernei said.
The case centered on Plahotniuc's alleged involvement in the 2014 theft of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks, an amount equivalent to about an eighth of the country's annual GDP at the time, prosecutors stated. The massive fraud plunged Moldova into economic turmoil, according to economic analysts. Prosecutors alleged that Plahotniuc received $39 million and 3.5 million euros of the stolen funds through companies controlled by another Moldovan oligarch, Ilan Shor.
Plahotniuc did not attend Wednesday's sentencing hearing, court records show. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated, according to his public statements. His lawyer Lucian Rogac described the entire process as marred by serious violations, stating they did not expect a different ruling given these circumstances, The Independent - Main reported.
We didn’t expect a different ruling, given that the entire process was marred by serious violations.
The former opposition leader fled to the United States from Moldova in June 2019 after failing to form a government with his Democratic Party, according to media reports. In 2020, the U.S. declared him persona non grata, and his whereabouts were unknown for years until he was detained in Greece in July last year, authorities said. He was extradited to Moldova in September and placed under pre-trial detention, according to Moldovan officials.
International authorities have taken action against Plahotniuc for years. The U.S. State Department added him to a sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption, including controlling law enforcement to target rivals and meddling in elections, according to U.S. officials. That same year, the U.K. government also sanctioned him, barring his entry to the country and freezing his assets in the U.K. and its overseas territories, U.K. authorities stated.
Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms think tank, commented on social media that for years, Plahotniuc evaded justice while controlling the system itself. He added that a reformed court, with integrity-vetted judges, has now convicted him of running a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering is a milestone and proof that judicial reform works, with the next test being the appeal.
The specific evidence presented in court to support the fraud and money laundering charges has not been detailed publicly. The current status of the $60 million in damages the state is seeking remains unclear, as does Plahotniuc's current detention conditions and location. The appeal process timeline and details have not been announced, and public and political reactions to the sentencing are still emerging.