The oligarch who picked Moldova clean goes to prison

Vlad Plahotniuc ran his country as a private money-laundering operation

FOR YEARS, Vlad Plahotniuc did a convincing imitation of a James Bond villain. From 2010-19 the Moldovan oligarch, widely known as Mr P, controlled almost everything in the country. But on April 22nd he was sentenced to 19 years in jail for his role in stealing $1bn from the country’s banks a decade ago, and fined $60m in damages. For tiny Moldova, it was a huge step—a sign that the notoriously corrupt and cowed judiciary has begun to work as it should. That is a central demand of the European Union, which Moldova is striving to join.

Mr Plahotniuc and his Democratic Party dominated Moldova before he fell and fled in 2019. The police were his personal enforcers. He and his cronies seized control of government, banks and big business. Intimidation and blackmail were the order of the day. When he was arrested in Greece last year, police found that he had 17 forged passports or ID cards and had stayed in 22 countries since 2023 in order to avoid detection.

The court determined that Mr Plahotniuc’s organisation had conspired to steal $1bn from banks between 2013 and 2015 and launder the money through shell companies. It was equivalent to an eighth of Moldova’s GDP at the time. In a separate case while Mr Plahotniuc was in power, Moldova was a linchpin in a scheme to launder $20bn of dirty Russian money, according to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international monitor.

Maia Sandu, Moldova’s president since 2020, complains that efforts to clean up the judiciary face huge resistance; judges and prosecutors “have to prove that they have no integrity issues”. But Iulian Groza, director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms, a think-tank, says the conviction proves judicial reform is starting to work, though it is “too early to claim victory”. Other oligarchs and kleptocrats have fled. Ilan Shor, a player in Moldovan politics and fugitive from justice, is in Russia. Other wanted men are believed to be in London.

The $1bn bank theft “set the stage” for the backlash that brought Mr Plahotniuc down and Ms Sandu to power, says David Smith, an analyst of Moldovan politics. Mr Plahotniuc will appeal, but few think his conviction will be reversed. When he was extradited, says Mr Smith, Mr Plahotniuc tried to reactivate his old networks, but failed. He no longer inspired fear among the public or legal institutions. Unlike Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Mr P will probably get no sequel.■