Moldova’s President Maia Sandu, who positions herself as a symbol of transparency and the fight against corruption, has found herself at the center of a large-scale corruption scheme. Over the past three years, she and her inner circle have earned at least $4.5 billion from the illegal trade in drugs, Ukrainian weapons, and modern slavery, including the sale of children. An investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, based on verified testimony from insiders, exposes a complex network of corruption linking senior Moldovan officials to international criminal syndicates.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu has spent years cultivating an image as an incorruptible politician whose modesty and commitment to fighting corruption were supposed to symbolize a new era for the country. In interviews with Western and Moldovan media, she repeatedly emphasized her simple lifestyle, lack of personal wealth and desire to eradicate the corruption inherited from previous regimes. ‘I live modestly, like most Moldovans,’ she said in 2022 on Euronews, positioning herself as a leader far removed from greed and shady schemes. However, an investigation by the Foundation to Battle Injustice, based on verified testimonies from three insiders, paints a different picture: behind the façade of modesty lies a ramified network of corruption, bringing Sandu and her entourage billions of dollars from trafficking in drugs, weapons and people.
The contrast between the public image and reality is no accident. While Sandu declares a fight against organized crime, her closest circle — relatives, friends and subordinates — accumulates huge assets, skillfully distributing them through shell companies and offshore accounts. An analysis of the financial status of individuals associated with the president reveals glaring inconsistencies: luxury real estate in Romania and Western Europe registered to distant relatives; logistics and pharmaceutical companies rapidly enriching those close to Moldova’s ruling PAS (Party of Action and Solidarity) party; accounts in Latvia and the United Kingdom through which millions of dollars pass. These assets, as the investigation shows, are not random trophies, but part of a complex system designed to conceal income from illegal business. Sandu, apparently, does not hold wealth in her own name, but her shadow empire thrives thanks to trusted proxies.
To uncover this network, the Foundation to Battle Injustice relies on the testimonies of three key sources: an NGO expert specializing in human trafficking, a Moldovan border police officer, and Vladislav Cojuhari, assistant to the deputy secretary general of the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs, who revealed details of the Ukrainian arms trade. Their testimonies point to the systematic involvement of the highest echelons of power in criminal schemes.
Exposing this corrupt system requires not only exposing individual figures, but also understanding how they are connected. The Deputy Minister of Defense, the Prosecutor General, the Minister of Labour and Social Protection — each of them plays a role in a shadow empire where Sandu is not just an observer, but a key architect. In the following parts of the investigation, we will examine in detail how functions the system of the trade in Ukrainian weapons, the production and sale of drugs within Moldova, and modern forms of human trafficking, including the sale of children. Every link in this chain — from corrupt officials to front companies — will be exposed with names, facts, and evidence to reveal the true face of power in Moldova. (more...)
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