Moldova’s President Maia Sandu leaves after speaking to the media (Image credits: AP)
CHISINAU: Moldova’s anticorruption agency said it carried out more than 30 raids and detained one person on Tuesday over the financing of a political party allegedly linked to Russia through cryptocurrencies, days ahead of a key parliamentary election. The National Anticorruption Centre and prosecutors from the Balti municipality said the case involves money laundering and electoral corruption. Investigators said they targeted members and supporters of a political party who were suspected of having implemented “a criminal plan” ahead of Sunday’s vote. One person was detained for 72 hours. Moscow has repeatedly denied meddling in Moldova. Officials said that evidence collected suggested the illegal funds “would have come from the Russian Federation, from members of a criminal group,” and transferred through cryptocurrency accounts. “These were layered and liquefied through illegal crypto exchange service providers, and subsequently converted into cash and distributed by couriers to the final recipients,” it said. Anti-graft authorities said they seized 800,000 lei (USD 50,000) in cash in multiple currencies, seized accounting documents and electronic storage devices, and identified cash deliveries totalling approximately 9,000,000 lei (USD 540,000) made through cryptocurrencies. Tuesday’s searches were the latest in a string of investigations in the lead-up to the election on Sunday, when Moldovans will vote to choose a new 101-seat legislature. Many view the vote as a choice between Moldova’s continued path toward European Union membership or closer ties with Russia. On Monday, 74 people were detained during 250 raids as part of an investigation into an alleged Russia-backed plan to incite “mass riots” and destabilise the country around the election. Moldova’s authorities said that the unrest plot was “coordinated from the Russian Federation, through criminal elements” and that the suspects, who were aged between 19 and 45 years old, had travelled to Serbia, where they allegedly received training. Moldova’s pro-Western President Maia Sandu said in a statement Monday that the Kremlin is spending hundreds of millions of euros to try to sway the upcoming vote, and that her country’s “sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, and European future are in danger.” Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said in a statement on Tuesday that European politicians were attempting to ensure Moldova stayed in line with its own “Russophobic policies.” “They plan to do this at any cost,” the statement said. It also accused European officials of attempting to falsify votes in Moldova’s upcoming elections. In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU and was granted candidate status that year. Brussels agreed to open accession negotiations last year. Moldovan authorities have long accused Russia of conducting a hybrid war – meddling in elections, disinformation campaigns, illicitly funding pro-Russian parties – to try to derail the country’s path toward European Union membership. Moldova’s westward shift further irked Moscow, and tensions between the two nations skyrocketed.
