Former communist MP, later a democrat, and subsequently a member of the outlawed Shor Party, Vladimir Vitiuc, has lost the legal battle against the National Integrity Authority (ANI), in which he sought to annul an unfavorable ruling issued against him. The decision was handed down by the Chișinău Court of Appeal (Centru) on May 12. The scandal surrounding his unexplained wealth of 3 million lei took a new turn after, in 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Vitiuc's favor. ANI then refiled the case, seeking confiscation of the assets. Vladimir Vitiuc is one of 14 defecting MPs under investigation for illicit enrichment, including in a case involving the bribery of MPs to leave their parliamentary factions and establish the "For Moldova" platform, initiated by Democratic leader Vlad Plahotniuc. CIJM reporters exposed how elected officials managed to accumulate significant wealth by switching from one party to another.

In January 2022, ANI found that former Șor Party MP and deputy speaker Vladimir Vitiuc failed to justify the origin of nearly 3 million lei accumulated between 2014 and 2020. The integrity check on Vitiuc began in March 2020. For the period between December 9, 2014, and July 31, 2016, integrity inspector Ada Grițiuc identified a discrepancy of 2,268,248 lei, linked to the purchase of a Land Rover Range Rover worth €85,250 and cash deposits into his or his family’s bank accounts.

Between August 1, 2016, and March 11, 2020, the inspector found another significant discrepancy of 679,411 lei, again involving unexplained cash deposits. Additionally, Vitiuc was found to have failed to correctly and fully declare his assets and personal interests, prompting a referral to criminal prosecution authorities.

Specifically, he failed to declare over 600,000 lei in cash deposits, two residential properties he occupied during 2016–2020, the Range Rover vehicle, and his status as co-founder of several limited liability companies until December 11, 2017, and April 13, 2018, respectively.

He is also accused of declaring inaccurate data about financial assets held in cash (outside the banking system), including at the time of submitting his asset declarations for 2016–2019. In his defense, Vitiuc claimed that the Range Rover was purchased by his mother-in-law, who is not legally considered a family member.

"The vehicle was bought with money borrowed from a citizen under a loan contract dated February 1, 2016," Vitiuc stated in his defense.

Vladimir Vitiuc is one of the most seasoned party-switchers in Parliament, being a key figure in the case of MP defections. He has been active in politics since 2005, holding five parliamentary mandates with the Communist Party. In 2017, he joined the Democratic Party, and in 2020, the Shor Party.