Runaway Moldovan oligarch Plahotniuc denied Turkish citizenship, may move to Romania - Moldovan politician Usatii
CHISINAU. Feb 24 (Interfax) - Renato Usatii, mayor of the Moldovan city of Balti and leader of Our Party, has said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denied Turkish citizenship to Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc.
Speaking on the TV8 television channel, Usatii said Erdogan made this decision after consulting his special services.
"A week ago, while meeting with the special services, the Turkish president was informed that Plahotniuc has stepped up his activities lately. The same meeting also discussed why the process of granting him Turkish citizenship was going so slowly. It was decided to reach out to all countries where Plahotniuc has been prosecuted and decline his application for citizenship," Usatii said, without specifying where he got this information.
"In this situation, Plahotniuc will have to leave Turkey very quickly," Usatii said. "And it's very likely that he might travel to Romania. He earlier updated his foreign travel passport in the name of Vlad Plahotniuc while in Bucharest," he said.
In order to scrutinize Plahotniuc's deeds, it would be reasonable to set up an international team of investigators from countries where he has "left his mark," namely Moldova, Russia, Romania, and Spain, Usatii said.
"The mousetrap for Plahotniuc is about to snap shut, and he is going to focus solely on providing his own security now," he said.
As reported earlier, Plahotniuc fled Moldova after the change of government on June 14, 2019. He stayed in Miami, the United States, for some time until the U.S. put him and his family members on a sanctions list over involvement in corrupt activities. Plahotniuc moved to Turkey at the end of 2020. Some Moldovan media reported earlier that he had been granted Turkish citizenship and was living in that country.
Moldovan Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo last May called Plahotniuc "the principal beneficiary" of the theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks. Moldova has convicted him in absentia and declared him internationally wanted. Moldovan President Maia Sandu signed a decree last week to deprive Plahotniuc of the top state award, the Order of the Republic, which he was presented with in 2014.
Russia has opened several criminal cases against Plahotniuc. Moscow's Tverskoi District Court ruled to issue an arrest warrant for him on July 29, 2019. The Tverskoi District Court also ordered in November 2019, that Plahotniuc be arrested for two months at the moment of his detention or extradition to Russia.