A fugitive Moldovan oligarch, Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is implicated in a $1 billion bank fraud, has been arrested in Athens after it was discovered he was living in a luxury villa and had obtained fraudulent Greek identity documents, police said.
Mr. Plahotniuc, 59, was arrested Sunday at Athens International Airport as he was attempting to board a flight to Dubai. His associate, Constantin Tutu, a 38-year-old former kickboxer also wanted internationally, was arrested with him. Police had tracked the two men to a villa in the coastal suburb of Saronida.
A search of the property yielded approximately 155,000 euros in cash, 17 fake passports from various countries, and four high-value luxury watches.
Investigators found that Mr. Plahotniuc had managed to obtain a genuine Greek passport and ID card using forged paperwork. Mr. Tutu was also found with forged Romanian and Bulgarian travel documents.
The two men are scheduled to appear before a prosecutor on Wednesday.