Businessman and politician Vladimir Plahotniuc has been extradited from Greece to Chisinau, where he faces multiple criminal charges, just days before a tense general election.

Plahotniuc, seen as the most powerful man in Moldova from 2013 to 2019 due to his influence over the government, police and media, is charged with involvement in a massive bank fraud scheme widely referred to in Moldova as the “$1bn bank theft”. 

The publicity surrounding the notorious businessman’s extradition is expected to benefit the pro-EU ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) as it goes into the election, with party officials highlighting his ties to former president Igor Dodon, leader of the pro-Russian opposition. 

The Moldovan Prosecutor General’s Office has accused Plahotniuc of being responsible for embezzling at least $39mn and €3.5mn in connection with this case. The funds were allegedly channelled through companies linked to Ilan Shor, the figure identified as the main visible beneficiary of the fraud.

The Moldovan authorities have issued three separate arrest warrants against Plahotniuc.

The first, filed in October 2019, involves charges of money laundering and is the basis of an Interpol notice. The second relates to the illicit purchase of shares in several Moldovan financial institutions, originally investigated in Romania and later transferred to Moldova in 2018. The third case concerns alleged fraud at state-run scrap metal dealer Metalferos, leading to another arrest warrant in July 2022.

In 2019, Plahotniuc left the country shortly before receiving a criminal summons from Moldovan prosecutors. 

This came after his Democratic Party (PDM) lost control over the ruling coalition following an alliance between current President Maia Sandu’s PAS and former president Igor Dodon’s Socialist Party (PSRM), which are currently the main rivals in the September 29 parliamentary elections. 

Although he initially resided in the United States, his presence there was deemed undesirable in January 2020. He subsequently disappeared from public view, with reports later placing him in Northern Cyprus.

Along with Shor he was named among one of the top five enemies of Moldova by the European Union in May, when it announced the sanctioning of individuals contributing to the destabilisation of Moldova. He was previously sanctioned by both the US and the UK for corruption. 

The publicity surrounding the notorious politician and businessman’s extradition is expected to benefit the PAS as it goes into the election, with party officials highlighting his ties to Dodon. 

President Maia Sandu described Plahotniuc's arrest as "good news for everyone", noting that "the whole country has suffered from the corruption and abuses" committed by him. He must answer for the abuses he committed. We want justice to be done, regardless of the person,” said Maia Sandu.  

Mihai Popsoi, a senior member of the PAS, posted a photograph of Dodon and Plahotniuc shaking hands on Facebook with a caption saying "The ending of the movie "Plaha" [Plahotniuc] depends on Sunday's choices”, and asking what the ending will look like if “Plaha's President” (Dodik) returns to power. 

In a symbolic decision, Plahotniuc will be placed in the same cell in Penitentiary 13 in Chisinau where former prime minister Vlad Filat served his sentence, according to TV8.

In 2016, Filat was given a nine-year sentence for his alleged involvement in the $1bn case, based on a statement from Shor, which he rejected as politically motivated and ordered by Plahotniuc. In 2023, after Filat was freed because of “inhuman conditions” in prison. 

Shor, given a 15-year sentence for his involvement in the $1bn fraud case in 2023, is currently in Moscow from where Moldovan government officials say he coordinates and finances Russia’s electoral operations in Moldova.