Following the request of the Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases (PCCOCS) and the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency (CARA), the Judicial Court of Thonon-les-Bains, France, ordered to freeze the real estate in the French city of Sciez, belonging to the citizen of Moldova, Vladimir Plahotniuc.

About this fact, the French authorities informed the Prosecutor's Office, through a notification received recently. According to the estimates of the French authorities, the seized asset is worth more than 4.2 million euros, which converted would exceed the amount of 83.5 million lei. The seizure applied to him aims to guarantee the possibility of applying the complementary penalty of confiscation of the asset within the criminal case investigated by the Moldovan prosecutors. Citing the Cypriot authorities, the French investigating judge also indicates that the accused Vladimir Plahotniuc allegedly created a criminal network at national and international level in 2009-2019, and with the involvement of the accused Ilan Şor, they registered Cypriot and Panamanian companies in England and opened bank accounts for the deposit of money embezzled from Moldovan banks.

Moreover, the seized asset is to be administered by l’Agence de gestion et de recouvrement des avoirs saisis et confisqués (AGRASC) – a French agency similar to the Criminal Assets Recovery Agency of the NAC from Moldova, until a solution is pronounced on the case.

In this context, it should be noted that the efficient implementation of the seizure was carried out due to valuable assistance of the liaison magistrate of the French Embassy in Bucharest, responsible for the Republic of Moldova, and the adviser of the President of the Republic of Moldova, delegated by the French President, to provide assistance to the national law enforcement bodies in cooperation with the French legal bodies.

The criminal prosecution of the case continues, during which the presumption of innocence provided by law applies to those involved.

Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases