In Moldova, the pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Chisinau Court of Appeal in the case of the “bank robbery of the century”. Shor was not present at the sentencing hearing. The appellate body also ordered the confiscation of assets totaling 15 billion Moldovan lei.
In the first instance, Shor had already been convicted in 2017 in the cause of the largest corruption scandal in the history of Moldova – the court had considered it proven at the time that the businessman and former local politician was one of the main actors in the “billion-dollar bank robbery”, in which around one billion dollars (915.58 million euros) disappeared from three leading Moldovan financial institutions.
Oligarch apparently in Israel
In 2019, the now 36-year-old became too precarious in his own country after the government of the Democrats (PDM), who were considered highly corrupt, resigned – Shor, like many other Moldovan oligarchs, immediately fled abroad. According to media reports, he is currently in Israel, from where he is financing the protests of his pro-Russian Shor party against the pro-European authorities in Chisinau. The oligarch has been on international manhunt since 2019.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu briefly commented on the verdict of the Chisinau Appellate Body in the evening on Facebook: The judiciary had triumphed and justice, especially towards the people, had won – the “thief” had to go behind bars for 15 years while his illegally obtained assets were confiscated will, wrote Sandu.
