By Alexander Tanas
CHISINAU (Reuters) – Moldovan police searched homes across the country of leaders of a group linked to fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, as part of a criminal investigation into election meddling, the police said on Thursday.
The police has accused Shor and Russia of trying to interfere in Moldova’s Oct. 20 presidential election, which will be held alongside a referendum on making European Union membership a strategic goal in the constitution.
Shor, who is exiled in Russia, has denied allegations of trying to bribe voters, describing statements from Moldovan authorities as an “absurd spectacle”.
The police in the ex-Soviet republic of 2.5 million, which lies between Romania and Ukraine, said tens of thousands of voters were paid off via accounts in a Russian bank to derail the vote. It said the efforts were managed by people in Russia.
Thursday’s searches were part of an investigation into the creation and running of a criminal organisation involved in money-laundering, vote-buying and illegal financing aimed at influencing the electoral process, the police said.
Similar searches were conducted at the properties of other Shor supporters in recent days and uncovered funds the police said were meant for bribing voters and campaign leaflets.
Shor, who was convicted last year in absentia for his role in the theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks, offered in a post last month on his Telegram account to pay people who vote ‘no’ in the referendum.
Incumbent President Maia Sandu is the favourite to win the election and opinion polls show she is comfortably ahead of the 10 other contenders. The polls also indicate that a majority of Moldovans support joining the EU.
Moldova’s relations with Russia have deteriorated in recent years. The pro-Western government in Chisinau has accused Moscow of seeking its overthrow and of interfering in its domestic affairs. Moscow has accused and her team of fomenting “Russophobia”.
(Reporting by Alexander Tanas, writing by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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