Moldovan businessman and former politician Vladimir Plahotniuc, detained in Greece on an arrest warrant in connection with the theft of $1 billion, was extradited to Moldova from Greece on Monday, Reuters reported, citing local media, BTA reported.
The online publication "NewsMaker.md", broadcasting live from the airport, showed how people in dark uniforms took a man in a white shirt and a dark hat, whose hands were tied behind his back, out of a landed plane and put him in a car parked nearby.
Plahotniuc's arrival comes just days before crucial parliamentary elections in Moldova, in which the ruling pro-European Party of Action and Solidarity (PDS) is likely to struggle to retained its majority amid voter dissatisfaction with economic hardship and slow progress in the fight against corruption.
Plahotniuc, considered one of the richest people in the country, is one of the main suspects in the so-called theft of the century in Moldova - the disappearance in 2014 of $1 billion - an amount equivalent to 12 percent of the former Soviet republic's gross domestic product at the time. Plahotniuc denies any wrongdoing.
Before fleeing Moldova in 2019, he was the leader of the Democratic Party, part of the ruling coalition from 2016-2019, and was deputy speaker of parliament.
In 2023, the European Union imposed sanctions on Plahotniuc and six others for actions it believes have destabilized and undermined the territorial integrity of Moldova and neighboring Ukraine.
According to Greek police, Plahotniuc, 59, has lived in 22 countries since 2023. Police arrested him at Athens airport in July after he boarded a plane to Dubai. The businessman was detained on an Interpol warrant, which said he had 16 passports, including from Romania, Mexico and Russia.