Plahotniuc will testify in the ‘kuliok’ case as Igor Dodon faces corruption charges
Vladimir Plahotniuc, the former leader of the Democratic Party, has confirmed that he will testify as a witness in the "kuliok" case, which translates to "black bag." This case involves former President Igor Dodon of the Republic of Moldova, who is accused of passive corruption and receiving illegal party funding.
Plahotniuc confirmed on Monday, December 15, his intention to give statements, while attending a new court hearing in the bank fraud case. He also stated that he will attend all court hearings at which witnesses will be heard.
The hearing of Vladimir Plahotniuc, as well as his former associate Serghei Iaralov, was requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which indicated them as witnesses for the prosecution in the "kuliok" case. The request was made during hearings held in December 2025 at the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).
The two appear in the video recording that forms the basis of the case, in which Igor Dodon is given a bag that prosecutors claim contained between 600 thousand and one million dollars, money intended, according to the indictment, to finance the Socialist Party.
Igor Dodon has consistently denied the accusations and stated that the images were doctored. At the same time, Vladimir Plahotniuc has so far avoided specifying the amount of money in the bag offered to the former head of state.
The prosecutor in the case, Petru Iarmaliuc, explained that the law allows a person to be questioned as a witness even if he or she is a defendant in another criminal case, provided that he or she consents.
Igor Dodon's lawyers, however, claim that the case was opened in the absence of sufficient evidence and accuse the prosecutors of passing the responsibility of questioning witnesses to the court.
The "kuliok" case, restarted from scratch
On November 24, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the trial to be resumed from the beginning after repeated changes to the trial panel. The head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Marcel Dumbravan, explained to Teleradio-Moldova that the resumption was necessary following the appointment of Judge Ion Malanciuc to the Constitutional Court, with Vladislav Gribincea taking his place.
The criminal case was initiated in 2020 and sent to trial in 2022. Prosecutors claim that Igor Dodon allegedly demanded almost one million dollars from Vladimir Plahotniuc and Serghei Iaralov, in exchange for negotiating favorable political conditions for a possible PDM–PSRM coalition, in June 2019, when Dodon was president.
In parallel, Vladimir Plahotniuc is being tried in the bank fraud case ("theft of the billion").
Prosecutors accuse him of creating and leading a criminal organization, fraud and money laundering, claiming that he benefited from over 39.28 million dollars and 3.5 million euros stolen from Banca de Economii, Unibank and Banca Socială. The money was allegedly used to purchase goods, charter flights, investments and pay for services.
Plahotniuc pleads not guilty and insists that only the hearing of witnesses proposed by the defense can clarify the situation.
The defense submitted a list of 164 witnesses, and the prosecutor in the case, Alexandru Cernei, stated that the court will decide which of them will be heard, depending on the relevance of the statements. Some of the proposed individuals are also defendants or accused in other bank fraud cases.
The former politician risks between 8 and 15 years in prison in this case. Since returning to the Republic of Moldova, Plahotniuc has been absent from several hearings, citing health problems or the large volume of materials in the file, which exceeds 100 volumes.
