Former leader of Moldovan Democratic Party to learn sentence in ''bank fraud'' case on April 22

The judges of the Chisinau Court today said that the sentence in the “bank fraud” case, in which former leader of the Moldovan Democratic Party (PDM)Vladimir Plahotniuc is targeted, will be delivered on April 22, 2026. The decision was communicated after the conclusion of the final pleadings presented by the former PDM leader.

The former head of the Democratic Party appeared before the judges with more schemes, charts and annexes. He commented on the prosecutors’ request that he be sentenced to 25 years in prison for creating and leading a criminal organization, fraud, and large-scale money laundering, describing it as “unsupported by evidence.”

“Prosecutors are trying to compensate for the total lack of evidence, which I will prove today, with absurd figures. I will demonstrate certain episodes that have not been presented until now, certain pieces of evidence. It will be a useful presentation for the court,” Plahotniuc said.

The ex-PDM leader said that the “most interesting part” of his defense is still to come, during which he will dismantle the accusations brought by the prosecutors.

“And now comes the most interesting part, which will tear down the two episodes of fraud. Some prosecutors are invoking certain amounts of money against me. You will see what is really behind these amounts. But the most important phase will be now, when I will show where this money went, who benefited from it, and why the money came here,” Plahotniuc concluded.

After the hearing, prosecutor Alexandru Cernei said that, initially, certain procedural discrepancies had been invoked during the trial, but they were rejected as unfounded. He specified that objections had been raised regarding the erroneous application of criminal law, but they had no legal basis and were examined and dismissed during the court debates.

“The defendant reiterated the position he had previously expressed during the hearings. At the same time, there is a new element: initially, he denied being the beneficial owner of the companies involved in the indictment and that he had received funds from the three banks involved. Today, his version has changed: the defendant acknowledges that those companies belonged to him as beneficial owner and that he received the concerned sums of money. However, he claims that the transactions were the result of an agreement with Platon and Shor regarding the repayment of a debt or the purchase–sale of a share package in Banca de Economii (Savings Bank). This version is not supported by evidence, being only the defendant’s statements. The documents regarding the transactions and the shareholdings of Banca de Economii do not provide for the conditions he invokes. Therefore, we consider this to be only a justification for the transactions that were carried out for his benefit. Thus, the defense’s position, presented at today’s court debates, has been clearly set out and concluded,” Cernei said.

The lawyer of the former PDM leader, Lucian Rogac, also said that, over the course of six hours, the defendant had dismantled all charges brought by the prosecutors.

“None of the alleged charges has any real basis. He has shown that he is not guilty and that there is no evidence to support the accusations of creating and leading a criminal organization, fraud or money laundering. The court’s eagerness to conclude the debates today was obvious, with one of the judges being in a hurry to leave the courtroom for an evaluation meeting,” Rogac added.

The trial in which Plahotniuc is being investigated has entered the stage of final pleadings, and the court is to deliver its verdict on April 22. Prosecutors have requested a sentence of up to 25 years in a closed-type penitentiary for the former Democratic leader. He is charged with fraud, money laundering and the creation and leadership of a criminal organization.

In addition, besides the “bank fraud” case, Vladimir Plahotniuc is under investigation for document forgery in a new criminal case, recently initiated on the basis of documents seized by Greek investigators from the residence the former Democratic leader rented in Athens, Greece. The documents show that he allegedly used multiple identities, with a total of 18 forged documents discovered.

Vladimir Plahotniuc has been in pre-trial detention since September 25, 2025, after being extradited from Greece, at which time four arrest warrants issued in his name were enforced. He is currently held in Penitentiary No. 13 from Chisinau.