130,000 people involved in a voter corruption network, coordinated by Ilan Sor's supporters
About 130,000 people were involved in a well-organized network of illegal financing of political parties and massive corruption of voters, coordinated by people affiliated with the criminal organization led by Ilan Șor, informs the Police of the Republic of Moldova. According to the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office, the network includes territorial leaders, activists, sector chairpersons and sympathizers who were recruited to influence the results of the October 20, 2024 election.
The officers of the National Investigation Inspectorate and the anti-corruption prosecutors today, October 3, carried out several searches in the framework of a criminal case, aimed at the illegal financing of political parties and money laundering in particularly large proportions, committed by an organized criminal group affiliated to Ilan Shor.
According to investigators, the network is hierarchically structured and involves territorial leaders, activists and sympathizers. During the searches, the authorities seized draft documents, mobile phones, sums of money in various currencies and other objects relevant to the investigation.
The criminal group would have acted to corrupt voters through financial rewards to influence the election results. The members of this network were organized into several levels of leadership:
130 territorial leaders, who collected the lists with the personal data of the rounded-up persons and sent them to the Russian Federation to open bank accounts, being paid monthly with about 45,000 lei.
1,927 sector chairpersons, responsible for rallying activists and sympathizers in each area, received amounts of about 4,600 lei per month.
Over 50,000 activists rallied supporters to participate in the elections and the referendum, being remunerated with 4,600 lei per month.
More than 70,000 sympathizers, people recruited to vote for a certain candidate and to choose the "No" option in the Referendum, in exchange for monthly rewards between 900 and 1,800 lei.
According to the Investigation, the criminal group used the Telegram application to coordinate activities and transmit detailed instructions on the eve of the elections. Ilan Shor's supporters, who are in the Russian Federation, monitored the entire process, and the recruited persons were registered and paid through accounts opened at a commercial bank in Moscow.
The police state that the prosecution will continue to establish all the circumstances and persons involved in this complex electoral corruption scheme. Authorities will update the public on further developments in the investigation.
