Detained Moldovan magnate says he wants to clear his name

CHISINAU (Reuters) -Moldovan business magnate Vladimir Plahotniuc said on Friday that he wanted to return to the ex-Soviet state to clear his name in his first major statement on social media since being detained in Greece on a warrant linked to a mass fraud case.

Plahotniuc, a former lawmaker and considered one of Moldova's richest men, is one of the chief suspects in Moldova's "theft of the century", the disappearance in 2014 of $1 billion from the Moldovan banking system -- the equivalent at the time of 12% of the ex-Soviet state's GDP.

Last week, he agreed to be extradited to Moldova and pledged to cooperate with international judicial authorities. Moldova's government, which wants to join the European Union by 2030, had long sought his return.

"I want to return to the country in order to prove my innocence to law enforcement authorities or at least what remains of them after so-called reforms," Plahotniuc wrote.

He described all allegations against him as being based on "slander and political hatred".

He also suggested that authorities would try to drag the extradition process out to ensure his return to Moldova came after a September 28 election in which pro-European President Maia Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) may lose its majority in parliament.

He said authorities feared his return to the country might "expose the truth" about the criminal case.

The press spokesman for the president's PAS party, Adriana Vlas, dismissed Plahotniuc's comments, saying the country wanted the justice system "to act, with the law in the forefront."

Plahotniuc, 59, who fled Moldova in 2019, was arrested last month at the Athens airport while on his way to Dubai.

An Interpol red notice was issued against him based on accusations that include participation in a criminal organisation, money laundering and fraud.

Plahotniuc was the leader of Moldova's Democratic party from 2016-2019, part of the governing coalition at the time, and served as deputy speaker of parliament.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Ron Popeski, editing by Sandra Maler)