In Chisinau, they were not happy for long: London court released Moldovan businessman

The Westminster Court of London has released a Moldovan businessman Vyacheslav Platon, previously detained at the request of Chisinau, on bail of 330 thousand pounds. This was reported in her Telegram channel by journalist Natalia Morar, who has a child with Plato.

Platon was detained in the UK on March 14. The Prosecutor General's Office then reported that the Chisinau authorities were cooperating with the British authorities to organize the necessary procedures for his extradition to Moldova.

"The extradition procedure also provides for an appeal stage, taking into account the fact that Vyacheslav's case for granting political asylum in the UK is still pending. So the joy of some people is premature. I am sure that a fair trial awaits him in the UK, unlike in the Republic of Moldova," Morari said.

Plato is accused of bribing the judge. He also appears in the case of abuse of office in the interests of an organized criminal group and the use of forged official documents. Another charge brought by prosecutors against a scandalous businessman is money laundering by a criminal organization on a particularly large scale.

The former banker also appears in the criminal case in Russia, known as "Landromat" (withdrawal of 37 billion rubles from the Russian Federation through Moldova). The former leader of the Democratic Party of the Republic of Moldova, oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who was detained in Greece this week, is on the same case.

In 2017, Vyacheslav Platon was sentenced in Chisinau to 18 years in prison for participating with Ilan Shor (the leader of the opposition bloc "Victory" was sentenced in absentia in Moldova to 15 years in prison) in bank fraud for $ 1 billion. In 2020, his case was sent for review. Then the prosecutor's office called Plahotniuc the main beneficiary of the "theft of the century", dropping the charges against Plato. In July 2021, he left for London, where he has been until now.

With the change of power in Moldova, the criminal prosecution of Vyacheslav Platon was resumed. Chisinau has put him on the international wanted list. The businessman has always denied all charges, claiming that he is being persecuted for political reasons.

As EADaily reported, former Moldovan presidential candidate Natalia Morari has created an association of independent journalists against censorship and the policies of the Maia Sandu regime. The other day Romania included her in the personal EU sanctions list — Morari is banned from entering Schengen countries for 5 years because of the "threat to national security".