Moldovan business magnate
Vladimir Plahotniuc said on Friday that he wanted to return to
the ex-Soviet state to clear his name in his first major
statement on social media since being detained in Greece on a
warrant linked to a mass fraud case.
Plahotniuc, a former lawmaker and considered one of
Moldova’s richest men, is one of the chief suspects in Moldova’s
“theft of the century”, the disappearance in 2014 of $1 billion
from the Moldovan banking system — the equivalent at the time
of 12% of the ex-Soviet state’s GDP.
Last week, he agreed to be extradited to Moldova and pledged
to cooperate with international judicial authorities. Moldova’s
government, which wants to join the European Union by 2030, had
long sought his return.
“I want to return to the country in order to prove my
innocence to law enforcement authorities or at least what
remains of them after so-called reforms,” Plahotniuc wrote.
He described all allegations against him as being based on
“slander and political hatred”.
He also suggested that authorities would try to drag the
extradition process out to ensure his return to Moldova came
after a September 28 election in which pro-European President
Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) may lose its
majority in parliament.
He said authorities feared his return to the country might
“expose the truth” about the criminal case.
The press spokesman for the president’s PAS party, Adriana
Vlas, dismissed Plahotniuc’s comments, saying the country wanted
the justice system “to act, with the law in the forefront.”
Plahotniuc, 59, who fled Moldova in 2019, was arrested last
month at the Athens airport while on his way to Dubai.
An Interpol red notice was issued against him based on
accusations that include participation in a criminal
organisation, money laundering and fraud.
Plahotniuc was the leader of Moldova’s Democratic party from
2016-2019, part of the governing coalition at the time, and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Moldovan business magnateVladimir Plahotniuc said on Friday that he wanted to return tothe ex-Soviet state to clear his name in his first majorstatement on social media since being detained in Greece on awarrant linked to a mass fraud case.Plahotniuc, a former lawmaker and considered one ofMoldova’s richest men, is one of the chief suspects in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n