Vladimir Plahotniuc Detained in Greece

Quick Hit: July 22, 2025

This morning Moldova’s General Inspectorate of Police announced that 2 Moldovan citizens were detained by Greek authorities in Athens - one of them was Vladimir Plahotniuc. The authorities were notified via official Interpol communications channels.

The second man is Constantin Țuțu, former MP of Plahotniuc’s Democratic Party. Țuțu also fled Moldova along with Plahotniuc in 2019. He is wanted in multiple cases involving fraud and influence peddling dating to his time as an MP.

Local press has run unconfirmed reports that both men were traveling under assumed identities. They were detained in Athens while trying to board a flight to Dubai. They were evidently only transiting through Greece, but it is unclear where they were coming from.

Left: Plahotniuc, Right, Țuțu. Photo sources their facebook pages

Chief of the National Police Viorel Cernăuțanu stated that the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors now need to start the process of requesting his extradition from Greece. Speaking to Newsmaker he stated "We are currently exchanging data and information through official channels."

On the Run Since 2019

Plahotniuc fled Moldova in Summer 2019 after his regime of state capture was overthrown and a coalition between PAS, Platform DA and the Socialists came to power. Initially he went to the United States where he lived for a time at his house in Miami until then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared him persona non-grata in 2020. Since then he has been assumed to have been hiding in Turkish Cyprus, with periodic alleged sightings of him in Dubai. Moldova has been seeking his arrest for some years, but only officially managed to put him on Interpol’s international wanted list in January 2025.

Vladimir Plahotniuc, Ilan Shor and Veaceslav Platon are the 3 most dangerous and wanted fugitive oligarchs being sought by Moldova. Vladimir Plahotniuc has not been nearly as publicly present in Moldova politics in recent years, but for most people he represents the person most responsible for threatening Moldova’s democracy in the young country’s history. His surprise detention in Greece is a major moment for the country that is sure to have knock on impacts in Moldovan politics.

We’ll follow this story as more details about his past whereabouts become available, and as Moldova seeks his extradition.