Ilan Șor faces asset confiscation over 10 million lei
The fugitive oligarch Ilan Șor could lose more than 10 million lei (~500,000 euro) in assets.
This comes after the National Integrity Authority (ANI) found an unjustified discrepancy between the income earned and the expenses incurred by Șor and his family during his tenure as mayor of Orhei and as a member of Parliament.
According to the statement issued by ANI, the difference between Ilan Șor’s wealth, expenses, and income during his time as mayor of Orhei from July to December 2015 exceeded 6.4 million lei.
ANI also found substantial discrepancies between the wealth acquired, income earned, and expenses incurred by Ilan Șor and his family from 2016 to 2022, when he also served as a member of the Moldovan Parliament. In this case, Șor, convicted in the "Bank Fraud" case, was found to have over 4.3 million lei in unjustified wealth.
The Authority has announced that it will refer the case to court for examination to order the confiscation of unjustified assets exceeding 10 million lei. Șor risks being disqualified from holding any public office or position of public dignity, including as member of Parliament and mayor, for 3 years, and his name will be added to the State Register of individuals banned from certain positions.
Who is Ilan Șor?
Șor fled Moldova in the summer of 2019, together with former Democratic leader Vladimir Plahotniuc. He lived in Israel for several years, where he is a citizen. Since 2024, Șor has been hiding in the Russian Federation, where his wife and children live and where he recently acquired citizenship. Earlier, Interpol Chisinau had asked the Kremlin to detain and extradite Șor to Moldova, but the request was rejected.
It is worth noting that Șor continued to be involved in Moldovan politics despite fleeing the country. Initially, he did so through his namesake political party, which was declared unconstitutional, and later through affiliated political formations. The government in Chisinau accuses him of leading an "organized criminal group" that seeks to destabilize Moldova in the interest of the Russian Federation.
In this context, it is important to mention that Ilan Șor is on the blacklists of both the U.S. and UK governments. He is also listed under sanctions imposed by Canada and the EU, due to his connections with the Kremlin and attempts to destabilize Moldova.
It is worth mentioning that the Court of Appeal sentenced Ilan Șor to 15 years in prison in the bank fraud case and imposed a seizure on assets worth over 5 billion lei. The ruling was made in April 2023. In response, Ilan Șor accused the judges of submitting to political orders and stated that the Court of Appeal's decision "leaves him cold" and that he has no intention of complying with it.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
