Moldova Sentences Fugitive Oligarch to Jail and Seizes Assets

The Chisinau Court of Appeal sentenced fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor to 15 years in prison in absentia for his key role in the so-called "Grand Theft" of one billion US dollars from Moldovan banking between 2012 and 2014.

"My team and I are fighting for justice for people and for a better life for citizens. No [court] decision will stop me. I will go all the way," an unrepentant Shor commented later.

Shor is hiding out in Israel, where he fled in June 14, 2019, immediately after fellow oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc lost power in Moldova and fled the country as well.

Moldova cannot automatically enforce the execution of the sentence as Shor also holds Israeli citizenship and it does not have an extradition treaty with Israel.

Shor was sentenced in the first instance in June 2017 to seven-and-a-half years in prison and can appeal the latest sentence to the Moldovan Supreme Court.

The head of the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, Veronica Dragalin, said Interpol could implement the arrest warrant from Moldova if Shor travels to other countries outside Israel.

"The authorities in Israel will [also] possibly recognise the sentence, so the sentence can also be executed in Israel. This is an option," Dragalin said.

President Maia Sandu declared after the verdict that the law must "must prevail", in a subliminal message to magistrates who have dragged out significant corruption cases in recent years.

"This is the only way justice can gain legitimacy, through legal decisions that punish thieves and do justice," Sandu wrote on Facebook.

The Chisinau Court of Appeal also ordered the seizure of assets worth 5 billion Moldovan lei, the equivalent of about 250 million euros, that belong directly or through...