Moldovan businessman sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison in Russia
The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow sentenced Moldovan businessman Vyacheslav Platon in absentia to 20 years in a strict regime colony for illegally withdrawing more than 126 billion rubles in foreign currency from Russia.
Platon was found guilty under Article 210 (“Creation of a criminal community”) and Part 3 of Article 193.1 (“Performing foreign exchange operations to transfer funds in foreign currency to non-resident accounts using forged documents”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The court also imposed a fine of 2.5 million rubles on the businessman.
Plato is on the international wanted list. His trial in absentia in Russia began on November 23, 2021. The investigation insisted that the businessman, who owned the credit organization Moldindconbank, created a criminal group with the politician and oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc to withdraw money from Russia. They were joined by several more bankers and entrepreneurs from Russia and Moldova. From 2013 to 2014, they transferred billions of rubles from the accounts of Russian banks using forged documents through illegal foreign exchange transactions. Moldova refused to extradite hzikhidtidekrt Plato.
Five defendants in the case were convicted in Moscow in 2022 for a term of 15.5 to 19 years.