UPDATE 13:23 The head of Interpol, Viorel Țențiu, told TV8 that Moldova has sent a request to the Russian Federation asking for the detention and extradition of Ilan Șor.

“After Shor confirmed that he was in the Russian Federation, a request was sent again to Russia to confirm that Shor was in Russia and we expressly requested that he be located and detained for subsequent extradition to Moldova. The general secretariat has also been sensitised once again to help us persuade the Russian Federation authorities to proceed in accordance with the provisions of the acts adopted within the organisation. We are aware that the Russian Federation is a member of the International Criminal Police Organisation,” said Tentiu.

UPDATE 22:05 According to a post published on Ilan Shor’s page on Wednesday evening, he did indeed leave Israel for Moscow, where he had a meeting with the chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Leonid Kalashnicov.

“We expressed each other’s views on the main issue for Moldova – who are friends and who are enemies. We informed Leonid Ivanovich about our strategic vision of the direction Moldova should follow in order not to disappear from the world map. We summarized our main plan, according to which the only way to save Moldova – rapprochement with real partners: Russia, the EAEU and the CIS. And the European path is a path to poverty, war and loss of statehood. Which, in fact, has been happening before our eyes for more than two years,” Shor wrote on Facebook.

Initial news

Former fugitive MP Ilan Shor, sentenced to 15 years in prison in the “bank fraud” case, left Israel on 1 February and has not yet returned. The statements were made by the head of Interpol Moldova, Viorel Țentiu, on Jurnal TV’s “Secrets of Power”.

“I would like to inform you that at 6:02 a.m. on 1 February, Shor left Israel using Israel’s passport. The direction of travel and the flight number are unknown, the Israeli authorities have not provided us with this information,” the head of Interpol Moldova said.

According to Jurnal TV sources, Shor was travelling to Moscow.

Viorel Țentiu also pointed out that every time Ilan Șor left Israel he did so using his Israeli passport.

The Israeli authorities have officially confirmed that oligarch Ilan Shor left the country on 6 November, but the flight and direction are unknown to them. The statement was made by the head of the International Police Cooperation Centre, Viorel Țențiu, for TVR Moldova.

At the time, sources in the law enforcement agencies told Ziarul de Gardă that the plane carrying fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor had landed in Moscow. Earlier, Jurnal TV wrote about Ilan Shor’s meeting with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in Istanbul, from where the two allegedly flew to Russia.