Moldova verdict: 15 years in prison for pro-Russian oligarch

A Moldovan appeals court has sentenced the pro-Russian oligarch Shor in absentia to 15 years in prison. The court also asked for his extradition from Israel, where he fled in 2019.

Businessman and politician Ilan Shor has been sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by an appeals court in Moldova. A first court ruling from 2017 provided for a prison sentence of seven and a half years for money laundering, fraud and abuse of trust. The court of appeal in the capital has now doubled this sentence.

The verdict “will help further our demand that he be extradited,” Corruption Prosecutor Veronica Dragalin said in a television interview. Shor is currently in Israel.

Leader of the Shor Party

The 36-year-old oligarch is the leader of a political party in Moldova that bears his name. For months he and his party have been organizing street protests against the country’s pro-EU government. Authorities in the capital Chisinau say the demonstrations are part of a Russian campaign to oust the incumbent government and replace it with a pro-Kremlin one.

Shor fled to his native Israel in 2019 after being investigated in the so-called “theft of the century” case. He is accused of having swindled a billion dollars (around 900 million euros) from local banks. At that time, this sum corresponded to about twelve percent of Moldova’s gross domestic product.

Shor calls verdict ‘illegal’

Shor condemned the decision in a video on Facebook. In it he described the verdict as “illegal” and announced that he did not want to respect it. Moldova’s President Maia Sandu said the verdict against Shor would help the judiciary in one of Europe’s most corrupt countries “regain legitimacy”.

The US in October imposed sanctions on Shor and other Moldovans over corruption or alleged collaboration with Russia to undermine democracy in the country. The Finance Ministry said Shor worked with Russia to sabotage Moldova’s accession to the EU.