Moldovan Justice Ministry rejects allegations of delaying Ilan Shor's extradition procedure

The Justice Ministry rejects the allegations regarding the alleged delay in the extradition procedure of citizen Ilan Shor and assures that all necessary actions have been undertaken according to legal competencies in the interest of the Republic of Moldova. The institution's reaction comes after the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, Veronica Dragalin, said that the Justice Ministry had sabotaged the extradition of Ilan Shor from Israel. Prime Minister Dorin Recean refused to comment on the ‘’political statements of a prosecutor.’’

The Justice Ministry claims that it has taken all necessary steps for the extradition of citizen Ilan Shor and listed all actions undertaken during 2020-2024.

On February 14, 2020, the extradition request was sent to the authorities of the State of Israel and in August 2021, the Justice Ministry, at the request of the Israeli side, provided additional necessary information and documents. Subsequently, in November 2021, two additional requests regarding the status of the extradition request were sent to Israel.

After the final decision of the Chisinau Court of Appeal in April 2023 on Ilan Shor's conviction, the Justice Ministry informed the Israeli authorities and requested the expedited fulfillment of the procedure. In July of the same year, the motivated decision of the Appeal Court, translated into English, was also sent.

‘’The motivated decision was officially sent to the Israeli authorities, and the initial extradition request was updated and supplemented with new circumstances, including some recommendations received from the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office,’’ the Justice Ministry said in a press release.

In December 2023, the Justice Ministry sent another request to the Israeli authorities for clarification on the status of the examination of the request. At the same time, the institution specified that, in February 2024, an extradition request had been sent to the authorities of the Russian Federation.

The head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, Veronica Dragalin, on 11 February told the website www.rlive.md that, for a long time, the version of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office regarding the extradition request had been refused and she had to address top officials in the state.

‘’In the end, we managed to send our version, but I do not understand why people in state institutions refused to promote things in the interest of our country,’’ Dragalin stressed.

The Justice Ministry firmly rejected the charges brought by the head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office and reiterated that all necessary actions had been taken.

‘’The Justice Ministry firmly rejects the allegations of the alleged delay in the procedure of requesting the extradition of citizen Ilan Shor and reiterates that all necessary actions have been undertaken according to legal competencies and within established deadlines in the interest of our state,’’ the institution's statement reads.

The institution points out that it has long-standing, time-validated experience in drawing up extradition requests, with no objections from the competent authorities of foreign states regarding the substantial and formal conditions of the mentioned requests.

Prime Minister Dorin Recean refused to comment on Veronica Dragalin's statements.

‘’I will not comment on a prosecutor's political statements. Everyone's expectation is very simple - cases, evidence, imprisonment. Everyone is tired of the justice stars. Everyone wants justice to be done. I recommend everyone to go to the countryside, talk to citizens and ask them what they think about how justice is being done,’’ Recean said.

On April 13, 2023, the Chisinau Court of Appeal sentenced Ilan Shor to 15 years in prison in a closed-type penitentiary, with the deprivation of the right to hold positions in the banking system for 5 years. Ilan Shor was to return over 5.2 billion lei. According to prosecutors, in 2014, Shor was the chairman of the BEM administration board and withdrew money from the bank through intermediary companies he controlled.

Ilan Shor left the territory of Moldova before the sentence was pronounced - in June 2019, living in Israel and the Russian Federation during this period.

On December 13, 2024, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) rejected the fugitive oligarch's lawyers' request to annul the Chisinau Court of Appeal's verdict, according to which, for fraud and money laundering, Ilan Shor must serve his sentence behind bars.