Detained Moldovan magnate says he wants to clear his name
Plahotniuc, a former lawmaker and considered one of Moldova's richest men, is one of the chief suspects in Moldova's "theft of the century", the disappearance in 2014 of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system -- the equivalent at the time of 12% of the ex-Soviet state's GDP.
Last week, he agreed to be extradited to Moldova and pledged to cooperate with international judicial authorities. Moldova's government, which wants to join the European Union by 2030, had long sought his return.
"I want to return to the country in order to prove my innocence to law enforcement authorities or at least what remains of them after so-called reforms," Plahotniuc wrote.
He described all allegations against him as being based on "slander and political hatred".
He also suggested that authorities would try to drag the extradition process out to ensure his return to Moldova came after a September 28 election in which pro-European President Maia Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) may lose its majority in parliament.
He said authorities feared his return to the country might "expose the truth" about the criminal case.
The press spokesman for the president's PAS party, Adriana Vlas, dismissed Plahotniuc's comments, saying the country wanted the justice system "to act, with the law in the forefront."
Plahotniuc, 59, who fled Moldova in 2019, was arrested last month at the Athens airport while on his way to Dubai.
An Interpol red notice was issued against him based on accusations that include participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and fraud.
Plahotniuc was the leader of Moldova's Democratic party from 2016-2019, part of the governing coalition at the time, and served as deputy speaker of parliament.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Romance scam costs Calgary woman more than $300K in increasingly common form of fraud
Two years ago, Shawna Nelson sold her house, moved into a motel, and thought she had a plan for where her life was heading next. Nelson, now 63 years old and living in Calgary, sold a house willed to her by her father after spending years caring for him and her grandmother, and quickly found a buyer at the asking price she'd set. The motel was supposed to be a temporary stay as Nelson expected she'd soon be moving in with a man in the U.S. she thought loved her. But instead of taking the next step in a relationship, Nelson said she found out she was the target of a romance scam, an increasingly common method of fraud in Canada. She said she lost her life savings of around $380,000 after sending payments to the man over the course of several years. : "I had been talking to a guy that said we're going to get together, and I kept sending him money. And that's why I was in a motel, because I thought soon I'll be getting out of here. And I just believed him, and I shouldn't have," said Nelson. Nelson said she was open to finding love now that her four children were grown up, and more than three decades after her husband of 12 years had died. "Because my husband died so long ago, and now that my kids were all grown, I wanted to find true love. And that's what I thought I'd found," said Nelson. Their connection first started about five years ago, when the man, who identified himself as Gilbert, contacted Nelson to warn her to cut off contact with a potential scammer she'd been chatting with on WhatsApp. Nelson and Gilbert continued messaging each other for years, while never meeting in person and with Gilbert never sending her a picture. He said he worked for the U.S. government, and wasn't allowed to show his face due to the nature of his job. Three years later, Nelson says she began transferring him money, with plans of starting a life together. But late last year she began to question the frequency of his requests for money, and asked why he wouldn't come to Calgary to help her with her move. "When he kept asking for more money and more money, I'm going, 'What is this all for? Like, I've given you enough already,'" said Nelson. "And he always came up with an excuse." Gilbert sent Nelson a picture of the house they'd move into, but she said it looked fake. That photo along with the repeated requests for cash helped her see through the scam. But by then, Nelson said she had already lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not knowing where to turn, Nelson went to Unison at Kerby Centre, a not-for-profit group that supports people aged 50 and older. She's lived in the centre's elder abuse shelter for around six months while trying to put her life back together. Now, Nelson says she feels stuck. She's still trying to process what's happened to her, as she notes the savings she lost would have been enough to buy a small condo with some money left over for her to live off of with her two dogs and one cat. Her only income source is her pension, she's not eligible for some subsidized seniors housing programs that become available at age 65, and she's struggled to find a place to live where she can reunite with her pets. "It was devastating," said Nelson. "People say, well, you shouldn't be so dumb to let somebody do that to you. But it happens." Romance and grandparent scams reported often: Unison Stories like Nelson's aren't unusual, said Unison at Kerby Centre's president and CEO Larry Matheison. He said the organization works on a high number of cases where seniors have experienced financial abuse or fraud. Romance scams, as well as grandparent scams, are examples he said the centre sees often. Mathieson said that it can be hard for people to wrap their heads around how common romance scams can be when they become aware of them. "If people hear about a romance scam for the first time, it's hard to believe that you would need to be alert to that type of situation," said Mathieson. "But also in situations where it's a close family member essentially defrauding a parent or grandparent of their retirement, for a lot of us it's very hard to believe it happens. But unfortunately, the reality is it does." Romance scams can be especially devastating for seniors, Mathieson pointed out, when exacerbated by a lack of affordable housing for them to turn to, as well as inflation raising the cost of groceries and medication. Unison's seniors supports help around 6,000 people most years, Mathieson said, with accessing benefits, housing or government programs. The organization also completes outreach work with partners like seniors lodges or residences, which can be just as important to prevent cases of financial abuse. "We're looking at creating an environment of safety. And in a lot of cases where financial abuse is the case, awareness of the abuse is a great deterrent," said Mathieson. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, an organization that Nelson reported her case to and which collects information on cases of fraud and identity theft, finds that Canadians lost more than $58 million in romance scams, affecting 1,030 victims, in 2024. The total is more than double the $22.5 million that was reported lost in these cases in 2018. Jeff Horncastle, outreach officer with the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, said the group's mandate is to gather information to assist in investigations, as well as education and awareness efforts. "There's a lot of value in reporting, but with that being said, it's important to understand that we don't investigate and that's why it's so important to report to your local police," said Horncastle. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Warwickshire man stole £300k from firm to fund luxury trips to Walt Disney World
A Warwickshire man who used company credit cards to book luxury holidays to Florida has been jailed. David Carr was said to have lived a 'lavish lifestyle' and splurged £300,000 on trips to Walt Disney World. Carr, 34, worked for an IT company in Bromsgrove and siphoned £300,000 over an eight-year period. His actions left the firm in major difficulty and led to it collapsing into administration, West Mercia Police said. Detectives launched an investigation into Carr in August 2022. He was arrested in October 2022 and charged in July 2023. READ MORE: YouTuber who visited Coventry and finds young boy overdosed says 'just a joke' Carr was said to have lived 'well beyond his means' and used the stolen money to buy computers, designer exercise bikes, and high-tech gadgets. Police will be recouping the funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Carr, of St Laurence Way, Warwickshire, pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud between April 2014 and August 2022. He was sentenced to four years and seven months in jail at Worcester Crown Court. PC James Hall said: 'We are pleased to get this custodial sentence for Carr, who abused his position of trust as the financial director of a company to fund a luxury lifestyle well beyond his means. 'His eight years of stealing company money also led to the firm he worked for going into administration, impacting the jobs of fellow employees, too. Fraud can often be seen as a victimless crime, but the actions of criminals like Carr can have a big impact on companies, their customers, and staff, which was certainly the case here.' Sign up for our FREE daily newsletter here for all the latest news about Coventry.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
F1 tycoon pleads guilty in rare Singapore corruption case
A Singapore-based billionaire hotelier has pleaded guilty to a charge connected to a rare corruption scandal that shocked the country last year. Ong Beng Seng has admitted to abetting the obstruction of justice by helping ex-transportation minister Subramaniam Iswaran cover up evidence while he was being investigated for corruption. Ong gave expensive gifts, including an all-expenses paid trip which included a private jet ride, to Iswaran while they were engaged in official business. Ministers in Singapore cannot keep gifts unless they pay the market value of the gift to the government, and they must declare anything they receive from people they have business dealings with. Ong will be sentenced on 15 August. He originally faced up to two years in jail for abetting a public servant in obtaining gifts, while the maximum jail term he faced for the abetment of obstruction of justice is seven years. However, both prosecutors and Ong's lawyers agreed that given his poor health, a fine should be imposed instead of a jail term, with the prosecution saying "judicial mercy" should be exercised. Ong has a rare bone marrow cancer, and the court previously allowed him to travel abroad for medical and work purposes. Prosecutors argued that while Ong was pivotal in Iswaran's attempt to cover his tracks, he was much less culpable than Iswaran, who had been a sitting minister. Ong's lawyers argued that he had "simply complied" with the plan thought up by Iswaran. At Iswaran's sentencing last October, the court heard that Iswaran requested Ong bill him for a business class flight from Doha to Singapore, after he discovered that he could have been implicated while police were investigating a separate incident. The judge said that he acted with deliberation and premeditation to avoid a probe. On Monday, the 79-year-old Ong pleaded guilty to belatedly billing Iswaran for the expense. A second charge of abetting Iswaran's acceptance of the all-expenses paid trip to Doha, said to be worth around S$20,850 ($16,188; £12,194), was also taken into account. In December 2022, Ong had invited Iswaran on the trip to Qatar, saying he would take care of the trip's expenses, which included hotel accomodation and a flight to Doha on Ong's private jet. Iswaran accepted the invitation but said he would need to arrive in Singapore on a specific date, with Ong responding that he would arrange for Iswaran to travel from Doha to Singapore on a commercial flight. It was this flight, said to be worth around S$5,700, that Iswaran belatedly made payment to Ong's company for, after he found out that Singapore's corruption bureau was investigating a separate investigation relating to Ong's associates - and had seized the flight manifest which had details of his trip to Doha as part of it. He then asked Ong to have his company, Singapore GP, bill him for the trip. The two men were arrested in July 2023 and charge sheets revealed that Iswaran was gifted more than S$403,000 ($311,882; £234,586) worth of flights, hotel stays, musicals and grand prix tickets. At the time of the offences Iswaran was in the government's F1 steering committee and the chief negotiator on F1-related business matters. Born in Malaysia in 1946 - which was then Malaya - Ong moved to Singapore as a child and founded a hotel and property company in the 1980s. Ong helped bring the F1 Grand Prix to Singapore and his company Hotel Properties Limited (HPL) has brands like the Four Seasons and Marriott operating under it. Hotel Properties Limited had earlier in April said that Ong would step down as its managing director to "manage his medical conditions". Singapore's lawmakers are among the highest-paid in the world, with leaders justifying the handsome salaries by saying it combats corruption.
