French authorities have been given the greenlight to seize a villa owned by former political party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, IPN reports.

A March 19 ruling from France’s highest court of appeal authorized the seizure of a waterfront property belonging to Plahotniuc in Sciez, a town on Lake Geneva, according to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

An earlier ruling — issued last year — stated that Plahotniuc had bought the villa in 2018 for about $3.4 million and transferred it to a Cypriot shell company called Sigmateli Limited.

“The purpose of the transfer of the Sciez building to Sigmateli Limited is to avoid a seizure of assets, as Mr. Plahotniuc is the true owner and user of the property,” according to the 2024 ruling.

Sigmateli appealed against that decision, arguing that it no longer had ties to Plahotniuc because its management had changed in 2020.

However, the Cour de Cassation has now rejected that argument, and ordered the seizure of Plahotniuc's property.

Asked by IPN, Vladimir Plahotniuc's lawyer, Lucian Rogac, said that his client has no connection with Sigmatelli LTD and the properties owned by this company.

Photo source: OCCRP