All news on the topic: Vladimir Plahotniuc

Once one of Moldova’s most powerful political figures, businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc has been found guilty of creating and leading a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering.

From Europe to the Pacific, the Moldovan fugitive used at least six aliases and a web of forged documents - including passports from Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia, Iraq, and Vanuatu - to move, and hide from justice.

For six years, Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc—suspected of involvement in the theft of $1 billion—evaded justice by crossing borders under a web of false identities spanning Europe, the Middle East, and even the Pacific, until his arrest in July 2025 at Athens International Airport.