Authorities detained two individuals Friday during a raid related to a criminal investigation into illegal party financing and electoral corruption.
Operating in response to an investigative journalism piece, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office said it was able to ascertain that local members of a network of political parties affiliated with the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor have received money from “dubious sources” to buy votes at the upcoming referendum and presidential election. The money was also intended for organizing rallies.
The members received amounts ranging from 5,000 to 250,000 rubles (equivalent to 900 to 45,000 lei) via the mobile app of Promsvyazbank, a Russian bank that is under international sanctions for supporting the war in Ukraine.
During Friday’s raid, the authorities seized smartphones, cash, written records, bank receipts and other relevant evidence. The two suspects have been arrested for 72 hours.
