Vladimir Plahotniuc Arrested in Greece for Embezzlement

Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was arrested at «Eleftherios Venizelos» airport in Athens, as an Interpol red notice was pending against him. He is accused of embezzling one billion euros, equivalent to 12% of Moldova's GDP.

Plahotniuc, former head of the Democratic Party, possessed multiple passports and had fled Moldova in 2019. He was allegedly residing in a villa in the southern suburbs of Athens with Miss Moldova 2019, Elizaveta Kuznetsova.

A Moldovan boxer and former MP, Konstantin Tutu, was also arrested, for whom a red notice was also pending from the Russian authorities for drug trafficking. Authorities confiscated a fake Greek ID card issued in 2023.

European mechanisms have seized Plahotniuc's mansions in Switzerland and the French Alps.