“Laundromat” case: Veaceslav Platon sentenced to 24 years in prison in Russia. Moldova may have “greater chances” of securing his extradition
Veaceslav Platon, currently in the United Kingdom and released on bail in an extradition case at Moldova’s request, was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison by a Moscow court. According to Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office, Platon was found guilty of illegally conducting foreign currency operations using falsified documents, which allegedly led to the unlawful transfer of over 48 billion rubles (approximately 600 million USD) out of the country between 2013 and 2014.
According to Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office, Platon—identified as the beneficial owner of Moldindconbank—allegedly orchestrated, along with several accomplices, a large-scale scheme to transfer funds from Russian bank accounts to accounts at the Moldovan bank, using falsified contractual justifications. The case was tried in his absence, and Platon remains on the international wanted list.
The conviction comes as Moldova is already in the process of seeking his extradition, having submitted two formal requests—one in 2024 and another in May 2025. British courts are expected to rule on the extradition between November 24–28, 2025.
In the meantime, Platon was released after posting bail and returned home. On Friday, July 25, around noon, he posted a message to his followers on Telegram stating that he was “back with them again.”
According to Alexandru Bot, an international law expert at WatchDog.md, Russia has two possible legal options: to file an extradition request or to ask UK authorities to enforce the sentence directly on British territory. However, given the current geopolitical context, such a request from Russia is unlikely to succeed.
"Given how Russia is—with human rights, the war, and everything else—I believe Moldova has a better chance of getting Platon than Russia does," Bot told Teleradio-Moldova. He emphasized that UK courts will assess both the chronological order of the requests and the human rights record of the requesting state.
Platon was detained in the UK on March 13, 2025, based on Moldova’s extradition request submitted in September 2024. After a period in pre-trial detention, on July 23, 2025, a British court approved his release on bail, with a security of £330,000 and electronic monitoring.
Moldova’s General Prosecutor’s Office clarified that Platon’s release on bail does not mean the extradition process has been halted—only that his preventive measure was modified pending a final decision by the UK courts.
Veaceslav Platon’s extensive criminal record
Veaceslav Platon, born on January 24, 1973, in Căușeni, is a Moldovan businessman and former MP, known for his involvement in multiple high-profile criminal cases that have significantly impacted Moldova’s financial system. He served as a Member of Parliament from 2009 to 2010, elected on the list of the “Our Moldova" Alliance.
In 2017, Platon was sentenced to 18 years in prison for fraud and money laundering in connection with the 2014 banking scandal known as the “billion-dollar theft.” Investigators claimed he caused damages of over 800 million lei to Banca de Economii. He was released in 2020 after then-Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo declared the case had been fabricated. However, Platon remains under investigation for other aspects of the same scheme, and in 2023, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office announced the confiscation of over 268 million lei from Moldindconbank accounts allegedly linked to him.
In a separate case, also in 2017, Platon was sentenced to 12 years in prison for organizing the embezzlement of over 200 million lei from insurance companies, including Moldasig. Prosecutors stated that the scheme was carried out through intermediaries and was eventually halted by Moldova’s National Financial Market Commission.
After his release in 2020, Platon left Moldova in 2021, following the electoral victory of the Action and Solidarity Party, and settled in London.
His name also appears in international investigations into the “Russian Laundromat,” a massive money-laundering scheme through which over $22 billion were funnelled out of Russia via banks and legitimized by Moldovan court rulings.
In 2023, Canadian authorities imposed sanctions on Platon, citing ties to the Kremlin and risks to Moldova’s national security.
That same year, a Moscow court sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison for participating in another illegal fund withdrawal scheme, allegedly in collaboration with others, including former Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc.
Platon is also being investigated for other financial crimes, including forging banking instruments.
The controversial businessman was detained in the UK on March 13, 2025, based on an extradition request filed by Moldovan authorities in September 2024.
He claims that all charges against him are politically motivated.
