It provides specialized legal assistance; support in the investigation and prosecution of corruption cases; and strengthening the asset recovery service chain through training for investigators and prosecutors.
Earlier, Parliament voted in the first reading in favor of a draft law that establishes a procedure for the use of assets and funds confiscated by the state. The law provides for two main directions: social use, which implies direct reallocation of resources to projects with a direct impact on people and communities, and use in the public interest, aimed at strengthening state capabilities, modernizing infrastructure and financing strategic programs. Among the priorities are defense, public order, national security and combating crime.
According to Justice Minister Veronica Mihailov-Moraru, within the project “Supporting Moldova in confiscation and recovery of criminal assets”, the Swiss partners will improve the professional competences of the domestic specialists involved in the asset recovery procedure.
“Among Moldova’s priorities is the recovery of criminal assets and their mobilization for projects of national importance,” Moraru said.
“Very timely!”, Prime Minister Dorin Recean said.
Switzerland has long provided judicial and legal assistance to Moldova in investigating a series of alleged offenses. In September 2024, the Swiss French-language daily Le Temps wrote about Vladimir Plahotniuc’s villa, registered to his wife. “The villa has been arrested because the Moldovan authorities suspect that it may have been acquired with funds of dubious origin. We are talking, in particular, about the funds of oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is under criminal prosecution in Chisinau for money laundering and at the same time has fallen under US and Swiss sanctions,” the newspaper wrote.
On June 28, 2023, the Swiss Federal Council decided to impose coercive measures against Moldova and issued a decree to that effect. Thus, Switzerland joined the sanctions imposed by the European Union on April 28 and May 30, 2023 against Moldova. “These measures were taken at the request of the Moldovan government due to the intensification of destabilization actions threatening Moldova’s sovereignty and independence since the beginning of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine,” the communiqué of the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO) said.
We shall remind you that the Moldovan authorities sent Greece two requests for Vladimir Plahotniuc’s extradition: from the Ministry of Justice – 04.08.2025 and from the Prosecutor General’s Office – 08.08.2025. The prosecutors at the Court of Appeal of Athens have notified Vladimir Plahotniuc. The requests concern extradition procedures in criminal cases, in which Vladimir Plahotniuc is accused of particularly serious crimes.
According to Mr. Plahotniuc’s lawyer Lucian Rogak, “after reviewing the case documents and taking into account Vlad Plahotniuc’s consent to extradition, the judges of the Court of Appeal of Athens decided to extradite him. Now the Ministries of Justice of Greece and the Republic of Moldova will take care of the necessary technical and logistical procedures envisaged in such cases”.
