Charter Gulfstream G200 Galaxy, Number T7-PRM lands on International Airport Chisinau on August 29 2016, at 22:00. Controversial businessman Veaceslav Platon, being handcuffed   and extradited urgently from Ukraine, steps off the plane. This scene is followed by the passengers of another charter flight, that landed within 12 minutes on Chisinau International Airport. The takeoff distance from Juliani Airport in Kiev of both planes was 7 minutes.

Veaceslav Platon is criminally investigated for fraud and money laundering in huge proportions in "Russian laundromat". On July 25th, an arrest warrant for 30 days was issued on the name of Veaceslav Platon and he is wanted internationally. The businessman was arrested in Kiev in just a few hours and was placed in custody. A month later, on August 30, the Prosecutor General announced by telegraph that the businessman was extradited. Neither the Prosecutor nor the General  Police Inspectorate (IGP), institution  involved in the extradition, did not provide details.

In the first hearings in Chisinau, Veaceslav Platon  offered more information about how he was extradited. Controversial businessman informs judges that  he was brought to Chisinau, at midnight, by a luxury charter flight and  requests magistrates to clarify who paid the fares of the trip. "I was arrested for three million dollars in Ukraine. Exactly three million were paid for arresting me and bringing me to Moldova. Do you know how I was brought here?   By a charter flight. A plane with a silver wing, which costs about 40,000 euros. I was caught and brought here. Understand? They rented a private plane with 12 seats ", Platon tells  judges in the hearing from 7 September 2016, according to an audio recording of the meeting, which came into possession of journalists from NewsMaker.

Audio recording of Veaceslav Platon at the Court of Appeal Chisinau  

Platon, extradited by charter flight because the Police missed the regular flight

An  official reply of IGP provided upon a request of the Center for Investigative Journalism writes that the businessman was  transported by plane  for the safety of Police employees and of the businessman, "considering the conflict in the neighboring country".  The reply signed by Alexandru Panzari,  head of PGI confirmed that the suspect was transported by a charter flight because the Ukrainian authorities delayed the escorting and they missed the regular flight. "Escorting was delayed at the airport in Ukraine for extraditing him to employees of Moldovan police and they  missed the roundtrip tickets", said IGP.  

The Police addressed the company "SRL Hanling LTD" for contracting a private flight, which helped the group to come to Chisinau  by " alternative flight" in exchange for 1,690 dollars. "Accordingly, to exclude violation of the rules of extradition procedure, the superior of the escort group informed the leadership of IGP about the situation, and they agreed  on extradition by alternative flight against the sum of 1,690 dollars,  reads invoice no. 3583 of 08.29.2016  of the Company SRL Hanling LTD.  The state budget paid  63.124 lei for delegating employees in this extradition  mission", reads the reply of IGP.

Coincidentally or not, but the company’s name was wrong in the information received from the General Police Inspectorate. Such a company does not exist, so, we insisted to talk with employees of the Department of Finance  of IGP. They checked the contract and bank statements and confirmed that it is about a company with a similar name - "ICS Handling".

Center for Investigative Journalism’s reply from the General Police Inspectorate 

They applied to an intermediary company

ICS Handling is a Ukrainian company with representative offices in Juliani and Borispol’s airports, but the company is not a flight operator, it just arranges the flights and provides assistance  on planes’ board. According to the company’s statement from the registers of Ukraine,  the company provides booking services, commercial subsidiary services, support for air transport, provides information and  develops professional, scientific and technical activities. "The company offers a wide range of services of airline ground support.  Maintenance is carried out at all airports in Ukraine. Agents of Handling ICS are always ready to solve any problem or remove difficulties which may arise during servicing  at the airport. After the plane took off, the company employees continue to monitor the flight so as to respond quickly to any problems", reads a description of ICS Handling.

Asked by reporters of the Center for Investigative Journalism, ICS Handling representatives did not respond to questions about the costs of services provided by the company and did not specify who ordered a charter flight to Chisinau. "Unfortunately, under the terms of agreements signed and the company's privacy policy, we cannot provide such information to third parties", wrote employees of  ICS Handling.

In summer months, the plane of the company Ukrainian International Airlines took off from the airport Borispol  in the evening at 19.40 and landed in Chisinau within an hour. Thus, the police could decide within 2 hours on the extradition by a charter flight and find available plane, through intermediaries.

Two charter flights to Chisinau

Veaceslav Platon's lawyers confirmed that the businessman arrived in Moldova on August 29, at about 22.30. According to information obtained by reporters of the Center for Investigative Journalism,  2 charter flights from the Juliani ‘s Kiev airport landed at that time on Chisinau International Airport,  at 7 minute take off  distance. This information is confirmed by MoldATSA. In an official reply received by CIJM, the institution informs us that the two planes took off from Kiev to Chisinau and after passengers left the planes on Chisinau International Airport, these planes went to different directions. One returned to Kiev and another one to Antalya, Turkey.

Gulfstream G200 Galaxy, a luxury airplane with ten passenger seats landed first on runway. As Veaceslav Platon said in his speech before the magistrates of the Court of Appeal, the plane had silver wings. According to data from the generation and processing flight system of CFMU of Eurocontrol, the flight was operated by ICF, a big foreign company that provides consulting in various fields, from business to health. Also, the company provides air transport services.  Information from CFM system of Eurocontrol reveals that the aircraft, with the registration number T7-PRM, used for this flight is owned by another company, ICS Aero SM SRL. The same information is confirmed by the Database search of planes "Airframes.org" running that ICS Aero SM SRL would have bought the  luxury aircraft in March 2016. ICS Aero SM SRL is a Ukrainian company which has its  office at Juliani Airport in Kiev.

A simple search on the website of the company that provides air transport services, including charter flights, shows that the company really owns Gulfstream G200 Galaxy aircraft, VIP charter category. We tried to order a flight from Kiev to Chisinau. ICS Aero operator replied upon our request and said that an hour of flight is about 3800-4000 euros. This sum is added other airport fees and fuel prices. Flight from Kiev to Chisinau takes about an hour and the rule for hiring charter plane is that you pay for the round trip of the plane. Thus, a flight from Kiev to Chisinau by this aircraft costs at least 7,600 euros, plus service charge and other fees.