Businessman Veaceslav Platon on April 20 was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment and was banned from holding posts in the banking system for a five-year period. He was also obliged to pay 869 million lei damages. After the sentence was pronounced, Veaceslav Platon said this trial was a show staged by the Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc, IPN reports.

Prosecutor Andrei Baiesu said the court partially accepted the prosecution’s request to sentence the accused to 23 years in jail. Platon will serve time in a closed-type penitentiary. The sequestrated property will be sold to recover the embezzled money. This includes shares in Banca de Economii and in the insurance company “Asito”. The prosecution is satisfied with the conviction and will decide whether to file an appeal after it examines the sentence.

Lawyer Eduard Rudenko said that both the defense and the client expected a conviction sentence. Veaceslav Platon was unable to say his last word and his right to a fair trial was violated. The defense will appeal the decision to the Appeals Court and will also go to the European Court of Human Rights, where it expects to win the case.

Until a definitive judgment is passed, Platon will be held in Penitentiary No. 13.

Veaceslav Platon was charged with swindle and money laundering that caused damage estimated at over 800 million lei to Banca de Economii. The prosecution reached the conclusion that the money obtained illegally as loans was transferred to the accounts of offshore companies to hide its origin. Later, a part of this money was used to repay loans raised from Moldovan banks. Veaceslav Platon pleads not guilty.