{"id":109960,"date":"2026-04-22T15:31:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T12:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disinfo.md\/vlad-plahotniuc-convicted-by-the-first-instance-for-the-theft-of-a-billion\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T10:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T07:22:43","slug":"vlad-plahotniuc-convicted-by-the-first-instance-for-the-theft-of-a-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disinfo.md\/en\/vlad-plahotniuc-convicted-by-the-first-instance-for-the-theft-of-a-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"Vlad Plahotniuc, convicted by the first instance for the theft of a billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vlad Plahotniuc was sentenced to 19 years in prison in the case generically known as “bank fraud”. The decision was pronounced on April 22, by the magistrates of the Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters, by cumulation of penalties. The defendant was not present at the pronouncement.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Vlad Plahotniuc has been convicted on multiple counts, including the creation and leadership of a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering on an exceptionally large scale.<\/p>\n\n

Throughout the trial, the politician pleaded not guilty and rejected all charges, reports IPN<\/a>. The court’s decision can be appealed to the Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n\n

Vlad Plahotniuc was arrested in Greece on July 22, 2025, and extradited to the Republic of Moldova on September 25. He is currently in preventive detention, being held in Penitentiary No. 13 in Chisinau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vlad Plahotniuc was sentenced to 19 years in prison in the case generically known as “bank fraud”. The decision was pronounced on April 22, by the magistrates of the Chisinau Court, Buiucani headquarters, by cumulation of penalties. The defendant was not present at the pronouncement. Vlad Plahotniuc has been convicted on multiple counts, including the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":109605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1125],"tags":[12805,15852,15851,15853,15850],"class_list":{"0":"post-109960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-moldova-en","8":"tag-bank-fraud","9":"tag-condemned-2","10":"tag-court-3","11":"tag-judgment","12":"tag-vlad-plahotniuc-2"},"yoast_head":"\nVlad Plahotniuc, convicted by the first instance for the theft of a billion - DISINFO.MD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vlad Plahotniuc, convicted by the first instance for the theft of a billion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/disinfo.md\/en\/vlad-plahotniuc-convicted-by-the-first-instance-for-the-theft-of-a-billion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vlad Plahotniuc, convicted by the first instance for the theft of a billion - 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