Moldovan Oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc Sentenced to 19 Years in Prison Over Bank Fraud
MOLDOVA – The Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was on Wednesday sentenced to 19 years in prison over $1 billion bank fraud.
The verdict was delivered in the capital Chisinau during a hearing in a case linked to the 2015 disappearance of $1 billion from the country’s banking sector, one of the largest financial scandals in Moldova‘s history.
Plahotniuc, a former leader of the Democratic Party, was convicted in connection with the case and handed a 19-year prison sentence, the court ruled.
The scandal is widely known as the “theft of the century.”
Plahotniuc also faced accusations of buying officials’ votes in an effort to establish a government under his control.
He fled abroad after a constitutional crisis in 2019 led to a change in government.
He was later detained in Greece last year and extradited to Moldova.
