Wife of Vladimir Plahotniuc, accused of complicity in money laundering. The 26 million euro villa seized
Vladimir Plahotniuc's wife is indicted, being accused of complicity in money laundering in particularly large proportions, committed in the interest of a criminal organization. In this context, the Moldovan authorities sent a request for international legal assistance to Switzerland, requesting the notification and hearing of the person concerned, announces the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office. (PA).](https://procuratura.md/anticoruptie/comunicate/comunicate-de-presa/tribunalul-penal-federal-elvetian-mentine-ordinul-de-inghetare?fbclid=IwY2xjawFgmGNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHadid6iEQSXomPfJP_c6KKuT6XCyKLeVLHv5nsMbbA9mK2jKLwamkHOtQg_aem_E7GTe1PKhi8N2i4He_Fi6g)
The case is related to the purchase of a luxury villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, bought in 2012 with the sum of around 26 million euros, money from multiple transfers, through a company controlled by Vladimir Plahotniuc. The investigation is part of the investigations related to "Bank fraud" in the Republic of Moldova, through which the banking system was looted between 2010 and 2014. The Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland rejected, in August 2024, the appeal filed by the legal entity that owns the villa and maintained seizure of real estate.
The wife of Vladimir Plahotniuc is to be questioned by the Swiss authorities, in this case of money laundering.
We remind you that on March 31, 2023, the Public Ministry of the Swiss Confederation ordered the blocking in the land register of the right to alienate the villa on the shores of Lake Geneva. The head of the PA, Veronica Dragalin announced the seizure in September 2023.
On 2 October 2023, Vladimir Plahotniuc filed an appeal against the decisions of the Swiss authorities, including requesting their annulment and annulment of the blocking order, citing violations of his procedural rights.
On August 29, 2024, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court found that all the measures taken by the Swiss authorities were by the law and maintained the block in the land register of the real estate villa in Geneva, rejecting the appeal as inadmissible.
We remind you that Plahotniuc left the Republic of Moldova in June 2019, after the party he led surrendered the government to a coalition formed by the ACUM Bloc and the PSRM, which fell apart in November 2019.
Former political leader and businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc faces multiple serious charges in the Republic of Moldova. These include involvement in the Bank Fraud in which about $1 billion was stolen from the Moldovan banking system between 2010 and 2014.
Plahotniuc is also accused of money laundering, through international networks and offshore companies, as well as of forming an organized criminal group, involved in corruption schemes and influence peddling.
These charges also relate to the capture of state institutions during the period in which Plahotniuc held significant political influence. Although he is outside Moldova, multiple international arrest warrants have been issued in his name, but Plahotniuc has not been detained to date.
The unofficial translation into Romanian of the decision of the Federal Criminal Court, dated August 29, 2024:
