Romanian authorities open criminal file on formed documents found on Vladimir Plahotniuc

The Interior Ministry (MAI) has informed that a criminal file was opened in Romania concerning the forged documents found on the former politician of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc, who was arrested in Greece, according to Agerpres.

MAI says it received from the Greek authorities copies of six identity documents discovered on Plahotniuc, and after checks, competitive authorities established that only one is authentic, namely a passport issued by the Romanian state with his real name.

According to the Ministry, there are ‘’reasonable suspicions’’ that the other five documents - two identity cards, two driver's licenses, and one passport - are fake.

‘’Following data and information exchanges carried out through the International Police Cooperation Center at the Romanian Police, the Greek authorities sent copies of six identity documents possessed by the concerned individual. As a result of the checks carried out at MAI’s structures, reasonable suspicions emerged regarding a possible act of forgery of official documents - two identity cards, two driver's licenses and one passport, consisting of mechanical overwriting of them, in order to alter the identity of the holder. (...) The checks carried out at the structures of the Interior Ministry revealed that only one document out of the six is authentic and is issued by the Romanian state, namely a passport that was issued under the real name of the individual, before a prohibition concerning him was issued,’’ said MAI.

The Ministry specifies that, in this case, a criminal file has been opened at the Criminal Investigations Directorate of the Romanian Police, for forgery of official documents and use of false documents.

One of the most wanted former politicians from Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc was detained by the Greek authorities at the Athens International Airport on July 21, shortly before boarding a flight to Dubai. Alongside him, a former Moldovan MP, Constantin Tutu, was also arrested, both being located by officers of the Division of Crimes Against Life and Property.

A string of documents belonging to Vladimir Plahotniuc and Constantin Tutu were seized following body searches conducted at the airport and at their residence in Greece.

‘’During bodily searches at the airport and at home, a string of documents with different identities were found. Some of them belong to the same state, but have different identity and photograph, with the date/month/year of birth altered,’’ said the Prosecutor General's Office of Moldova.

In the case of Vladimir Plahotniuc, there are four identity cards under different names issued in Vanuatu, Romania (two with different photos, both issued on March 19, 2025, under the name Antohe Mihai), Bulgaria; six driver's licenses with false identities issued in Romania (on May 7, 2025, and February 10, 2020, both under the name Antohe Mihai), Ukraine, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Bulgaria; and 11 passports under different names, issued in Vanuatu, Iraq, the Russian Federation, Moldova, Romania (issued in 2020 and 2022 under the names PLAHOTNIUC Vladimir, Antohe Mihai), Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldova.

Vladimir Plahotniuc is a controversial politician and businessman from Moldova. He left the country in June 2019, after the fall of the government of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), the party he led. Plahotniuc is targeted in several criminal files for serious crimes, including bank fraud, money laundering, creating and leading a criminal organization, active corruption and illicit enrichment. According to Moldovan authorities, Plahotniuc directly benefited from the theft of one billion dollars from the Moldovan banking system on the period 2014-2015, according to the media from Moldova.