Greece extradites oligarch to Moldova in $1 billion fraud case
Express newspaper
25/09/2025 22:49
A Moldovan oligarch and former senior politician has been extradited from Greece, accused of involvement in the theft of $1 billion (£748 million).
Vladimir Plahotniuc, 59, was flown from Athens to Chisinau on Thursday morning and then taken to a detention centre in the Moldovan capital, local officials said, the BBC reported.
The tycoon, who faces several long-running criminal cases in Moldova, has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to prove his innocence.
His extradition comes days before Sunday’s parliamentary elections, with President Maia Sandu warning that Moldova’s independence and European future are at risk due to Russia’s efforts to incite violence and spread disinformation.
Vladimir Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019, when his Democratic Party was voted out of power.
On Thursday morning, he was seen being escorted from the plane he arrived on by Moldovan police and Interpol officials.
He then got into a car and left the airport.
In a post on social media, President Sandu wrote: “If you don’t give up when it’s difficult and keep fighting – the whole society keeps fighting – even criminals who seemed invincible come to justice.”
His lawyer, Lucian Rogac, accused Sandu’s pro-EU government of turning his client’s extradition “into a tasteless political spectacle” ahead of key elections.
The lawyer also said that his client’s “fundamental rights” were violated during the extradition process that began on July 22 with his arrest at Athens airport at the request of Moldova.
The tycoon is one of the main suspects in the disappearance of $1 billion from three Moldovan banks in 2014 – a case known as the “theft of the century”.
At the time, the amount was reported to be worth more than 10% of Moldova’s gross domestic product.
His extradition comes as the impoverished country sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine prepares for elections on September 28 that will determine whether Moldova continues its integration with the EU, or falls back under Russian political influence.
Earlier this week, Sandu accused Moscow of “pouring hundreds of millions of euros” into Moldova in an effort to incite violence and spread disinformation and fear.
“The Kremlin believes that we are all for sale. That we are too small to resist… But Moldova is our home. And our home is not for sale,” the president said.
The BBC recently uncovered evidence of a network with ties to Moscow and fugitive Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, who worked to spread disinformation.
An undercover journalist uncovered people being paid to post fake content online, with the aim of undermining the ruling party ahead of the vote. The posts have been viewed millions of times. Shor did not respond to a BBC request for comment.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Europe could not afford to lose Moldova to Russian influence, after failing to rescue Georgia and Belarus from Moscow’s orbit.
Zelensky said that Russian President Vladimir Putin – who launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – “will continue to push the war forward, deeper and deeper” if it is not stopped.
Meanwhile, Moldova’s pro-Russian parties have accused Sandu of trying to intimidate them – and influence the vote.
They also say her government is not going far enough in the fight against widespread corruption.
Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service this week accused European countries of plotting to “flagrantly falsify” Sunday’s result in order to provoke protests.
The SVR warned that the EU could organize “an armed invasion and de facto occupation” of Moldova, falsely claiming that the EU was deploying troops.
Moldova declared its independence as the USSR collapsed in 1991, but has a sizeable Russian-speaking population. The breakaway region of Transnistria, backed by Moscow, is still home to a contingent of Russian troops.