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In February 2025, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for fugitive Moldovan billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc. [On 25 September], he was escorted from Athens to Chișinău. Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru stated that Plahotniuc will be immediately placed in a solitary cell in Prison No. 13.

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Plahotniuc was detained on July 22 at Athens airport while attempting to fly to Dubai. Authorities seized 21 passports and identity documents allegedly issued by the governments of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Iraq, and Vanuatu. Former Moldovan MP Constantin Țuțu, who was also detained, had five forged documents in his possession.

The Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office has filed charges against Plahotniuc in three cases, including the theft of $1 billion from the country’s banking system in 2014. According to investigators, Plahotniuc received $39 million and €3.5 million of that larger sum through entities connected with fellow fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who currently resides in Russia.

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In Russia, Plahotniuc is also facing criminal prosecution for forming a criminal group, drug trafficking, and money laundering. However, Moldovan authorities believe that Moscow is using these cases as a tool to protect the Kremlin-aligned oligarch, and that he would not actually be punished if international authorities extradited him to Moscow instead of to Chișinău.