A fugitive Moldovan oligarch involved in a $1 billion bank fraud has been detained in Greece, the Moldovan national police said, as quoted by the Associated Press.
Vladimir Plahotniuc fled Moldova in 2019 after being accused of a series of corruption crimes, including complicity in a scheme that led to the embezzlement of $1 billion. dollars from a Moldovan bank in 2014, which at the time was equivalent to about an eighth of Moldova's annual GDP.
The oligarch denies any wrongdoing.
Moldovan police said in a statement that they had been informed by Interpol's Athens bureau that two Moldovan citizens had been detained, including Plahotniuc, who was added to Interpol's international wanted list in February. Authorities did not name the other detainee.
The Greek police unit dealing with organized crime said that Interpol is seeking Plahotniuc on suspicion of involvement in a criminal organization, fraud and money laundering.
The Moldovan Justice Ministry and the prosecutor's office are in the process of exchanging information to start an extradition procedure for Plahotniuc and the other detainee, a government official told the AP.
Plahotniuc, one of the richest people in Moldova, fled Moldova for the United States in June 2019 after failing to form a government with his Democratic Party.
The United States declared him "persona non grata" in 2020. and his whereabouts were unknown for years.
The influential businessman and politician was added to the U.S. State Department's sanctions list in 2022 for alleged corruption.
The charges included placing law enforcement agencies in the country under control to pursue political and business rivals and interfering in Moldovan elections.
In 2022, Plahotniuc was placed on the United Kingdom's sanctions list and was banned from entering the country. His assets in the United Kingdom and its overseas territories were frozen, the AP said.