The UK government announced on Friday, 9 December 2022, a sanctions list targeting 30 corrupt political figures and human rights abusers around the world, according to a UK government statement.

The list includes the leader of the Shor Party, fugitive MP Ilan Shor, who was sentenced in 2017 to seven years and six months in prison for fraud and money laundering and placed on international wanted list, and former leader of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), Vlad Plahontiuc, who was placed on international wanted list and previously sanctioned by the US for corruption. Vladimir Plahotniuc and Ilan Shor are under investigation in the “bank fraud” case.

According to the British Embassy in Moldova, all assets held by Plahotniuc or Șor in the UK, or in any of the UK’s overseas territories such as the British Virgin Islands or the Cayman Islands, will be frozen: “UK citizens will be barred from all economic transactions with any of the sanctioned persons who are refused entry to the UK”.

“Today, on World Anti-Corruption Day, these sanctions designations provide further evidence of our commitment to fight high-level corruption in all parts of the world. It is also evidence of our continued commitment to making the UK a hostile territory for illicit finance. We continue to enjoy excellent cooperation with our Moldovan partners in progressing all mutual legal assistance requests between our two countries. Together, we are committed to fighting corruption,” says the UK Embassy in Moldova.

The UK government’s decision comes three days after Moldovan President Maia Sandu called on democratic countries at the International Anti-Corruption Conference 2022 to stop harbouring fugitive criminals and stolen goods from other countries.

“We cannot win this fight as long as democratic countries still allow the unhindered movement of stolen money and tolerate on-shore and off-shore havens.

For example, most of the money from Russia’s billion-dollar bank fraud and money laundering schemes has crossed Moldova’s borders and ended up in dozens of jurisdictions in economically developed countries. If democratic states are serious about rooting out corruption, they should revise their rules for handling stolen money. And if democratic states want to help fragile democracies recover more quickly from such massive exoduses of capital, they should review their rules for returning assets.

We need other jurisdictions to work with Moldovan law enforcement. We will make progress in our fight against corruption when other countries stop harbouring fugitive criminals and stolen goods from other countries. Cooperation between law enforcement agencies in our countries will send a clear signal that there are no more places where illegally acquired assets can be hidden. Other jurisdictions should make pro-active disclosures on their own territory, and where possible, should launch their own investigations,” Maia Sandu told the International Anti-Corruption Conference 2022 in Washington, USA, on 6 December.

US Ambassador to Moldova Kent D. Logsdon announced on 26 October that the US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against former PDM leader Vladimir Plahotniuc and fugitive MP Ilan Shor, as well as “several entities and individuals associated with them for actions related to corruption”.

Files on former PDM leader Vlad Plahoniuc

The “Metalferos” case

On July 5, 2022, magistrates of the Chisinau Court of Appeals, Ciocana seat, issued an arrest warrant in absentia, for 30 days, in the name of former PDM leader Vladimir Plahotniuc in the “Metalferos” criminal case.

In the “Metalferos” case, Vladimir Plahotniuc is charged with three counts – creation and management of a criminal organisation, fraud on a particularly large scale and money laundering.

The “bank fraud” file

In the “bank fraud” case, Plahotniuc is accused of committing offences under Article 284 para. (1) – the creation or management of a criminal organisation (i.e. the founding of such an organisation and the organisation of its activity, or the search for and employment of members in the criminal organisation, or the holding of meetings of its members, or the creation of money and other funds for their financial support and the criminal activity of the organisation, or equipping the criminal organisation with weapons and tools for committing crimes, or organising the collection of information about potential victims and the work of law enforcement bodies, or coordinating criminal plans and actions with other criminal organisations and groups or special criminals in the country and abroad, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years); Article 30 – extended offence; Article 42 para. (3) – participants (a person who has organised or directed the commission of an offence and a person who has created or directed the activities of an organised criminal group or criminal organisation shall be regarded as an organiser); Article 190 (3) – offences committed by a person who has organised or directed the commission of an offence; Article 190 (3) – offences committed by a person who has organised or directed the activities of an organised criminal group or criminal organisation) (5) – fraud committed on a particularly large scale; Article 243 para. (3) (a) and (b) of the Criminal Code – money laundering (actions committed by an organised criminal group or criminal organisation; in particularly large proportions); Article 30 – extended offence.

Charges against Ilan Shor in the “bank fraud” case

In June 2022, ZdG wrote that it has been three years since Ilan Shor, the deputy of the “Shor” political party, under investigation in the “bank fraud” case, left Moldova. During this period, Șor, who lost his parliamentary immunity for the second time in May this year, appeared in numerous videos posted on his Facebook page in which he launched several attacks on the ruling party and Moldovan President Maia Sandu. Although he is a member of parliament, Shor has not attended any of the meetings called by parliament.

In the “bank fraud” case, Shor is charged on nine counts.

In a reply provided to ZdG in June 2022 by the PA, the Prosecutor’s Office stated that investigations have been ordered to search for Ilan Șor both in Moldova and abroad in the criminal case “bank fraud”, pending before the CA. At the same time, extradition procedures have been initiated for him in the criminal case in question, and all the necessary documents have been forwarded by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova to the competent Israeli authorities.