The Moldovan police spoke about another round of searches related to the bribery of voters with money from Russia by the "Shor" party and the "Victory" pre-election bloc.
Points of attention
- Russia is allegedly bribing Moldovan citizens through the Shor party and the Victory pre-election bloc, with transportation provided free of charge from Russia to Moldova.
- The Moldovan police are conducting searches and investigations related to voter bribery and illegal party financing, pointing to involvement of Ilan Shor's network and the pro-Russian 'Victory' bloc.
- Approximately 150 Moldovan citizens were transported for free from Russia to participate in the second round of the presidential elections, raising concerns about external influence on the electoral process.
- The incumbent President Maia Sandu and the pro-Russian candidate Alexander Stoianoglo are set to compete in the second round of elections, amidst reports of significant financial transfers from Russia to Moldova prior to the elections.
- The second round of presidential elections will be a crucial moment in Moldova's political landscape, with issues of voter bribery and alleged illegal financing continuing to be under scrutiny.
Russia bribes Moldovan voters
The General Inspectorate of Police reported that police officers and prosecutors of Moldova conducted searches in Chisinau and Rishkani as part of several criminal cases related to voter bribery and illegal party financing.
As noted, during the searches it was again confirmed that members of Ilan Shor's network and the pro-Russian "Victory" bloc are recruiting Moldovan citizens and offering money in exchange for a vote "against one of the candidates."
During the searches, among other things, the suspects' smartphones with the Russian "Promsvyazbank" application, through which the participants of the scheme received funds, labor contracts with the Russian organization "Eurasia" and significant sums of money were seized.
Earlier, the Moldovan police said that before the presidential elections and the referendum on the EU, more than 24 million dollars were transferred to Moldova from Russia, and the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor was behind it.
Russia transports Moldovan citizens free of charge to participate in the elections
About 150 citizens of Moldova were brought from Russia to the second round of the presidential elections of Moldova, which will take place on November 3.
Three buses with Moldovan citizens returning from the Russian Federation arrived on the night of November 2 at the Cahul-Oancha checkpoint.
Sources in the Customs Service and the Border Police told IPN that there were about 150 people in the three buses who flew free of charge from Moscow to Istanbul and then continued their journey by bus.
The interlocutors add that in Istanbul (Turkey), passengers who flew for free from the Russian Federation were met by three buses with Moldovan license plates headed for Bulgaria.
There, the passengers were transferred to three other buses belonging to the Bulgarian company, on which they arrived at the Cahul-Oancha border crossing.
After talking with the passengers, the customs officials established that they did not pay for either the air flight or the vehicle.
In the Russian Federation, they were told: free transport is organized for citizens who want to return home to take part in the second round of the presidential election.
Elections in Moldova: what is known
On November 3, the second round of presidential elections will be held in Moldova, in which incumbent President Maia Sandu and candidate of the pro-Russian "socialists" Alexander Stoianoglo will compete.
Voting by mail for the second round has already ended.
In the first round, Sandu received 42.37% of the votes, and the candidate of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists of Moldova, Alexander Stoianoglo, received 26.02%.
