"Bank fraud" case in appeal; judges reviewing appeals with Plahotniuc attending via video link
The bank fraud case in which Vladimir Plahotniuc was sentenced to 19 years in prison at the trial court level has reached the appeal stage. Judges at the Centru Court of Appeal began reviewing the appeals on Thursday, October 1, and Plahotniuc is participating in the hearing via videoconference.
During the hearing, the defense lawyers challenged the replacement of Judge Vitalie Budeci—who had failed the external evaluation (vetting) process—by filing a motion to that effect, which the court is set to review.
Magistrate Vitalie Budeci was replaced on the judicial panel by Vitalie Pîslariuc.
Proceedings were briefly interrupted due to a power outage. The power loss also disconnected the video link with Vladimir Plahotniuc. Once the connection was restored, the hearing resumed with the presentation of further defense motions—part of a total of 41 filed in the case.
This is the third attempt to begin the appeal proceedings. The first hearing, scheduled for August 24, was postponed due to a bomb threat.
Two days later, on August 26, the court again postponed the proceedings to allow both parties time to file the necessary motions. Vladimir Plahotniuc had also participated via videoconference on that occasion.
On April 22, 2026, the former Democratic leader was sentenced by the Chișinău Court to 19 years in prison on five counts, including the formation of a criminal organization, fraud, and money laundering.
Extradited from Greece in September 2025—after fleeing the country six years earlier—the former politician was also barred from holding certain public offices for five years.
The court further ordered the recovery of approximately 60 million dollars from the defendant—representing the damages caused by the looting of the three banks—plus statutory late-payment interest. The funds had been used to purchase an Embraer Legacy 650 aircraft, pay for charter flights, acquire movable and immovable assets, cover various legal, medical, and travel services, fund repairs and construction work, and make business investments, as well as to organize events and settle debts.
The total value of the assets remaining under seizure exceeds one billion lei.
Vladimir Plahotniuc maintains his innocence.
