MOSCOW, August 5. /TASS/. Moscow’s Tverskoy court on Monday arrested in absentia a businessman and ex-leader of Moldova’s ruling-turned-opposition Democratic Party, Vladimir Plahotniuc, on charges of setting up and participating in a criminal group, a TASS correspondent has reported from the courtroom.

Judge Anatoly Belyakov ruled to "satisfy the investigator’s motion and place Plahotniuc in custody in absentia." Under the court’s ruling, this pre-trial restriction measure will be in place since the oligarch’s extradition to Russia or his detention on Russian soil. According to investigators, Plahotniuc has fled to the US.

Lawyer Darya Konstantinova told the court that her client was innocent, asking it to decide against his arrest in absentia. She insisted that the prosecution against Plahotniuc in Russia was "politically motivated." In his turn, the investigator announced plans to seek the defendant’s extradition to Russia. "Sufficient evidence has been collected in the case confirming Plahotniuc’s complicity in the crimes he has been accused of and we will seek his extradition to Russia," a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry said.

Money laundering case

Plahotniuc is charged with setting up and participating in a criminal group and carrying out illegal transactions in foreign currency and rubles to the accounts of non-residents using fake documents. Besides, Plahotniuc’s henchman, professional kickboxer Constantin Tutu, has been charged in absentia with taking part in a criminal group.