Speaker after Plahotniuc’s conviction: Logically, there must follow other episodes involving other people as well

Justice must continue its work in holding the former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, accountable, after he was recently sentenced to 19 years in prison in the bank fraud case, Speaker Igor Grosu said. The official believes that the investigation must go further, as the case may involve other persons.

According to Grosu, the scale of the acts under investigation indicates that Plahotniuc could not have acted alone, and further investigations could reveal new episodes.

“He could not on his own have orchestrated all these actions, operations, transactions. Things are sophisticated, plus in one of the episodes he was accused of leading an organized criminal group. Nineteen years is a cumulative sentence for three counts of indictment; let prosecutors, experts, criminal lawyers look at it and express their view on whether it is too much or too little. I do not know what else the prosecution has in progress, but I believe that, logically, there must follow other episodes in which other people appear as well, including those who pleaded for his innocence,” said Grosu.

He emphasized that justice reform is not yet complete and that there are still important steps to be taken.

“I followed what the anti-corruption prosecutor said, I understood that there are also other cases that will be brought before the court, but I want to address everyone: we are talking about justice reform – we have not yet crossed the Rubicon, let us not delude ourselves that one swallow makes a summer, there is still a lot, a lot of work to do regarding this citizen,” said Igor Grosu.

On Wednesday, April 22, judges of the Chişinău Court, Buiucani branch, sentenced Vladimir Plahotniuc to 19 years in prison. He was found guilty of creating and leading a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering. The sentence can be appealed to the Chişinău Court of Appeal, Centre, within 15 days. Until the decision becomes final, the preventive measure in the form of pre-trial detention has been maintained.

According to information made public on April 23 by the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, Marcel Dumbravan, between 2009 and 2019 Vladimir Plahotniuc allegedly acted as the leader of a criminal organization involved in fraud and money laundering, in particular in the embezzlement of funds from the national banking system and their subsequent laundering.

The investigation indicates that these actions were coordinated together with Ilan Shor and other criminal groups, involving an extensive network of individuals from the financial-banking system and public authorities.