In the new edition of the ZdCe Podcast, Minister of Internal Affairs Ana Revenco talked about the problem of fugitive oligarchs and the efforts to establish their whereabouts. The minister confirmed to ZdG that Ilan Shor, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Veaceslav Platon are in the sights of law enforcement authorities in other countries that are members of the Interpol network.

“The International Police Cooperation Centre, which is a special subdivision within the General Inspectorate of Police, serves as a national point of contact between all law enforcement agencies here in Moldova. We are talking about such institutions as the Prosecutor’s Office or specialized prosecutor’s offices, the Money Laundering and Prevention Service, the National Anti-Corruption Centre, the structures subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which contact in terms of police and judicial cooperation through this point of contact with the outside world, with the law enforcement world. In other words, our mission is to transmit through special channels, in accordance with the indications, instructions and standards established, the information that is made available by these national bodies,” explains Revenco.

The minister stresses that the information on the three oligarchs has been transmitted as a priority and that it has been received by the law enforcement authorities of the member states of the Interpol network.

“I can confirm that it is received and we have all the confirmations that it is received, including that the information is also transmitted through the Interpol database, but also bilaterally with the countries concerned. These persons are, through our requests, being targeted by law enforcement authorities in other countries, which are members of the Interpol network,” says the Minister of Interior.

Asked whether the whereabouts of Vlad Plahotniuc, who is under investigation in the “bank fraud” case, are known at the moment, Revenco said that we will find out the answer to this question as soon as the location request is activated and law enforcement bodies decide that the publication of this information is not detrimental to the case.

“The ball is now in the court of other partners in countries that are part of the Interpol network. All requests have been sent, I reconfirm,” the minister said.

Vladimir Plahotniuc left Moldova in June 2019, after the party he led, PDM, handed over the government to a coalition formed by the ACUM Bloc and PSRM, which broke up in November 2019. In March 2020, the US Embassy in Chisinau confirmed that Plahotniuc is on US soil.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (AP) requested Plahotniuc’s extradition in June 2020, when the former democratic leader was located in the US, and in September 2020, when he was identified in Turkey, respectively, but no responses to these requests from both countries have reached the Chisinau authorities.

On 1 October 2021, the AP submitted a repeated request to the Interpol National Central Bureau in Moldova asking the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL to issue an international wanted persons notice for Plahotniuc.