Moldovan businessman sentenced for role in $1 bln bank fraud
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A court has sentenced a Moldovan businessman and former lawmaker to 18 years in prison for embezzlement and money laundering connected to a $1 billion bank fraud.
The court in the capital Chisinau on Thursday sentenced Veaceslav Platon and ordered him to pay the state 869 million lei ($45.2 million) in damages which he siphoned off from the Savings Bank, which subsequently went bankrupt.
In its ruling, the court also confiscated shares Platon held. The ruling is not final.
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Platon denies wrongdoing and says the case against him is politically motivated. Platon, 44, was extradited from Ukraine in August.
The $1 billion, equal to one-eighth of the annual GDP of one of Europe's poorest countries, disappeared from Moldovan banks before the 2014 parliamentary elections.