US Embassy: Plahotniuc Is Subject to Deportation, but It Will Take Time

Agora portal reporters asked representatives of the US Embassy to comment on the situation of former PDM leader Vladimir Plahotniuc and his presence in the United States. According to a response sent to the editors of the Agora portal, the former PDM leader is currently undergoing an administrative deportation process. At the same time, the Embassy clarifies that such procedures can take a considerable time. “Vladimir Plahotniuc is in the United States, but he is currently undergoing an administrative deportation process. Such procedures, including acceptable judicial review procedures, can take considerable periods of time,” the US Embassy said. In June 2019, Vladimir Plahotniuc urgently left the Republic of Moldova after the formation, which he headed at that time, lost power in Chisinau. Subsequently, photos appeared on social networks, judging by which Plahotniuc was in Miami, USA. In December 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Center notified Interpol, the embassies of Romania, the United States of America and the United Kingdom in the Republic of Moldova that the former PDM leader, Vladimir Plahotniuc, had an identity card in the name of Vladislav Novak. At the same time, authorities asked the embassies of the United Kingdom and the United States in Moldova to determine his place of residence for subsequent extradition. On January 13, 2020, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States included Vladimir Plahotniuc and all members of his family in the list of undesirable persons in the U.S. territory.