Election Update: ZdG Releases a Major Investigation into Shor's Financing
October 15, 2024
ZdG Releases Bold Investigation into Shor’s Network
Newspaper and online media outlet ZdG released an investigation detailing how one of their reporters infiltrated the Shor network. Reporter Măriuța Nistor went undercover for 3 months as “Ana Nastas,” an alias developed by ZdG with spoofed official documentation.
The investigation began in late June with “Ana Nastas” joining a Shor protest outside the court where Bashkan Gutul’s case was being heard for illicit political financing. She approached an older couple sitting on a bench pretending to be a new recruit at her first event - she asked them for advice. The man gave her a short orientation - sit until they are told to stand, shout whatever slogans the organizers shout, don’t talk to journalists. “Ana” asked if they needed to post anything on social media and was told no - that’s not what they were being paid for. When asked about payment the man said that they are promised 1000 lei / month for protests, more for other actions and that to be paid she needed to join a regional team. Asked if all the protestors were paid the man said “If they weren't going to pay, you wouldn't see anyone here."
From here, Ana joined a regional contingent of the Shor organization based in the village of Dobrogea and run by a woman named Raisa. After “Ana” was questioned by Raisa to determine if she was a spy from PAS or the police, she was admitted to the team.
The investigation is fascinating and worth reading in full. Through the course of her 3 months inside the organization “Ana” uncovers the following key facts:
It’s about the money. At all the regional meetings of the Dobrogea branch of the Shor organization the conversation was constantly about getting paid. There were no true believers including Raisa the town captain. When they met with higher ups, particularly “Alexandru” a regional chief from Chisinau all the local “activists” asked him about was getting paid. “Activists” have been getting 1000 lei / month for protest actions through most of 2024. This is in contrast to past years where people were paid per event. Now that it’s the election season people are paid (or promised) 3000 lei… or actually 15,000 rubles (2,700 lei) / month with bonuses for other actions.
Getting paid is complex. “Activists” are no longer paid in cash as they were previously. Now they are signed up via Telegram to Shor’s bank card system managed by Russian Promsvyazbank. They then download an app and on the right day see the money in their account. Russian bank cards don’t work in Moldova now and you can’t transfer money from Russian banks to Moldovan ones. “Ana” sent her fake ID card into the Telegram app and a bank account was opened for her in Russia no questions asked - on August 26th she got her first funds transfer of 15,000 rubles.
Shor’s activists are older and not very tech savvy. “Ana” moved up in the ranks because she owned a smartphone and knew how to use it. That allowed her to help other elderly people understand Telegram. The primary goal of these “activists” (other than showing up to protests) is to operate in a type of multi-level marketing scheme where they are paid for bringing more recruits into the app. They are all paid in these virtual rubles which have become harder to access since SIS blocked the Promsvyazbank app. Activists were instructed to install a specific VPN called "Romanian VPN" which solved the problem, but increased the technical issues people were dealing with.
They steal from each other. When it came time for “Ana” to cash out her 15,000 rubles she was first told that she would transfer it to another account and then get 2,300 lei (not 2,700 or the originally promised 3,000) in cash. This was supposedly due to bank transfer fees. When this cash came from Raisa she was notified that Raisa would take another 1,000 lei as a personal “commission.” This resulted in monthly pay of only 1300 lei of the 3000 originally promised. “Ana” was warned by Raisa that if she told higher ups about this then Raisa would kick her out of the organization. Later, Ana was asked by Alexandru to take the responsibility for paying her village’s team. She was to go to Bender in Transnistria, take out all of their team’s money from the bank and return. Alexandru told her she could take whatever “commission” she thought was fair for this.
The low level activists fear the authorities. Raisa and others told “Ana” not to go on the money run calling it “very, very dangerous.” The discussed warnings from Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Dragalin on TV and speculated that Alexandru may himself be setting a trap for her.
They are brought to candidate events. The Shor cells from Dobrogea, Sîngera and Revaca were summoned to a park in Chisinau without being told why. When they got there they found Victoria Furtuna. She spoke to them for 30 minutes about the death of Moldovan identity, how all the country’s professionals are “bought by Americans,” etc.
Shor’s main target is the referendum. Activists were told that they must understand that the referendum is the basic element of the electoral campaign. If we destroy the referendum, Maia Sandu will have nothing to say." Alexandru indicated that while Furtuna was being supported now they did not know who Shor’s actual candidate is for president. The candidate will be revealed “in the last 100 meters” which he said was Friday.
Ultimately Măriuța Nistor did not make the cash run and ended the investigation by revealing the true identity of Ana Nastas to Raisa and Alexandru who promptly hung up the phone.
The ZdG investigation got broad attention on all major Moldovan TV channels, online news sites and many Romanian news sites. The police responded by thanking the “investigative journalists who showed professionalism and confirmed/reinforced the evidence of the Police.” They opened a criminal referral on the basis of the investigation.
Other Shor / Election Interference Stories
Here is a roundup of the (many) other Shor-related / election interference stories of the week:
Telegram has continued to deny Shor access to the app. After last week’s news that Telegram had kicked off many Shor accounts, ZdG confirmed that 100 chatbots and 95 channels associated with Shor were blocked in addition to accounts of Shor Party leadership. The company also said that it is cooperating with Moldovan law enforcement and had turned over user IP addresses, phone numbers and evidence of illegal financing of political parties and money laundering. The Shor team subsequently tried to open new accounts for top leaders such as Shor, Tauber and Gutsul but they were blocked within hours of being registered. Ilan Shor has loudly protested these moves saying that he didn’t violate any rules of the social network, etc.
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin sent open letters to Meta and Google urging them to commit sufficient resources to prevent interference in the Moldovan election. The letters, addressed to CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, stated that “This is a unique moment in Moldova’s history that will determine the future for generations of Moldovans – and the decision must be Moldovans’ alone.” The Senator cited reports from Watchdog MD showing continued spending on these networks by the Shor network. META / Facebook responded by releasing additional information about their work to disrupt “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior in Moldova.” META claims that the accounts were blocked before attaining a large audience and that most were registered in Transnistria.
Police announce 115 searches related to illicit party financing between October 8 - 11th. They detailed searches of "district leaders, sector presidents and activists" and say that they found dollars, euros, lei, British pounds and Russian bank cards. They also sized phones, tablets and other tech as well as 18 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 12 shotgun shells. 3 “district leaders” were arrested after the searches. Police stated that they tracked:
"several people making ruble transfers through various financial platforms , after which they pay the activists only half of the amount transferred to them through the PSB [Russian bank] application , and distribute the rest of the money to the presidents to the territorial offices for the help provided"
Police published wiretaps of Shor network “activists” discussing how they are short changed. They talk about how they are promised 15,000 rubles but that large sums are taken out before it arrives to them in cash. The recorded conversations also indicate “activists” feared going to Shor protests because their pictures could be taken and they might later be charged with Treason.
Anti-Corruption Police (CNA) searched the Orhei City Hall in an illicit financing case. 18 civil servants were searched under suspicion of being paid illegally for political activities. 3 people were arrested including Orhei Mayor Tatiana Cociu.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) has announced complaints from voters whose registrations have changed without their knowledge. These voters were de-registered from their polling places and re-registered as living in Russia by 3rd parties. The CEC had previously noted a higher than usual registration of voters in Russia and has now tracked many of these registrations to a single email address. They have changed their policies to prevent this from happening in the future.
The single emergency service 112 has stated that they have gotten 30 calls of suspected voter bribery. Police urge people to call 112 if they are offered bribes or incentives to vote a certain way.
Priests continue campaigning. Orthodox priest Ghenadii Țugui in Falest preached against the EU and democracy in general saying that "If we look in the history of the language or in the dictionary, "demos1" comes from "demon" + "cracy", that is, this order is made when living in a democracy: one is above the others, and others at a very, very low, in poverty." In addition to this attack, he leveled various other false accusations against the EU, etc.
Russian music stars Philipp Kirkorov, Nikolay Baskov, Stas Mikhaylov2 put out a music video urging Moldovans to vote “No” in the referendum. The video is a parody of the Moldovan song "Inima mea e Moldova" (My Heart is Moldova) by Simion Ghimpu. It opens with scenes purporting to show life in Europe - gay pride parades, street riots, police violence, non-white immigrants, etc. The video asked "is this what you want?" before showing an idealized set of clips of Moldova while the stars sing - urging people not to ruin the country by joining the EU. Simion Ghimpu’s relatives have announced that they will sue for the illegal use of the song. Previously all 3 artists have made videos supporting Gutsul’s election as Bashkan and Ilan Shor thanked them all calling them his "good friends.3"
Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs has accused Veaceslav Platon of withdrawing (i.e. stealing / laundering) 48 billion rubbles ($507 million dollars) from Russia. They claim that the scheme was organized by Platon with accomplices Alexander Korkin, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Renato Usatîi.4
Election and Political News
Here’s a roundup of the other important election related news of the week so far:
Igor Munteanu has lost his appeal against the CEC at the Supreme Court of Justice. He will not be allowed to enter the presidential race. He vowed to continue his appeal at the European Court of Human Rights saying "I feel entitled to defend every signature.5"
The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania, Denmark, and Iceland visited Balti, Ungheni and Comrat this week to discuss European integration. In their “European Cafe” speaking tour they met with citizens and business leaders to discuss the benefits of European Integration and the experience of their countries in joining the EU. They jointly called out interference stating that "the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries strongly support the right of all Moldovan citizens to make their own choices freely and independently."
The CEC has evaluated candidates interim financial reports and sanctioned Tudor Ulianovschi. The CEC noted that failed to declare 42,000 lei in advertising expenses and fill out reports on volunteer work. He was deprived of free airtime in state owned media for 48 hours. Warnings were given to Nastase, Tarlev and Morari for minor issues such as late reports. The CEC also warned Furtuna regarding notifications around her official bank account.
The CEC announced that there will be no exit polls conducted for this election. No groups registered a request to run an exit poll by the October 13th deadline. The deadline for registering to run an exit poll before the (possible) second round is still open.
The Transnistrian “authorities” have announced that they may conduct their own referendum on EU integration. They claim that they are not being consulted6 and that no effort to open polling places on their territory was made. The CEC replied that 30 polling stations are being setup in the security zone near the “border” so that Moldovans in Transnistria can vote conveniently in territory controlled by the constitutional authorities.
Moldovan LGBTQ+ rights groups Gender Doc-M announced the holding of "Coming Our Day" October 10-13.7 The first event was due to be held at the National History Museum of Moldova but was canceled due to a bomb threat. The museum remained closed for 24 hours after police cleared the premises. The second day of events was due to be held at Mediacor at the State University but was similarly canceled due to a bomb threat being called university.
European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO) monitoring mission issued its pre-election report. In it the organization praised the work of the CEC calling it "effective and transparent" and noted that the new electoral code passed between the 2020 and 2024 elections was “transparent, comprehensive and inclusive, in line with ENEMO’s previous recommendation.” The organization praised state institutions while raising the alarm about “attempts to interfere in the electoral process through vote buying” saying that they “pose a serious challenge not only to the current elections, but also to the future development of democracy in the country.”
Natalia Morari is having some wild debates 1/2. On October 14th Morari was attending a debate hosted by Jurnal TV where she was asked about what connection Veaceslav Platon had with her campaign. She responded that he has none but that…
“However, he has the same influence on the campaign as he did on Jurnal TV’s editorial policy from 2016 to the end of 2019, when he paid you €15,000 in cash every month. (…) All of Jurnal TV’s investigations into the theft of the billion were prepared by Platon’s lawyers. Ask your bosses. (…) If you don’t know about this, it’s not my problem,”
Platon quickly confirmed her allegation against the station saying that he “helped” Jurnal TV “for free and without conditions” saying that he only asked that they be present at his court hearings [re: the Theft of the Billion] as “We were on the same side of the barricades.”
Jurnal TV has said that this accusation is "lies and slander" and that they never took money from Platon. They allege that the claims are intended as an attack on the independent press in Moldova.
Natalia Morari is having some wild debates 2/2. On October 15th Natalia Morari was invited to a debate by her old network TV88 with candidates Maia Sandu, Ion Chicu and Victoria Furtuna. Only Morari showed up to the debate. While the hosts were introducing her the power went out in the TV8 studio. Natalia Morari went on facebook live from the studio dramatically accusing TV8 of “serving the interests of the authorities” and trying to silence her. The debate did not happen. Following the event TV8 anchor Mariana Rata stated:
"I expected many provocations today, but certainly not a power outage live on air. (…) This has never happened to us before. I don't know the reason, but I am absolutely sure that the only one who benefited from this situation is Natalia. We called the police to investigate this case. We will insist on an investigation, and those responsible must be punished. We apologize to the viewers for this provocation that we were subjected to,"
Renato Usatii published a video of masked men with a Wagner PMC flag that he alleges threatened his life. He states that men from the Wagner mercenary company have declared him a "traitor to the Moldovan and Russian people" and that these threats to kill him come from the Socialist Party. Alexandr Stoianoglo responded by condemning all violence against political opponents and calling on the police to investigate.
Independent MP Victoria Cazacu has announced that she will join “Our Party” and vote for Renato Usatii for President. Recall that in April of this year PAS ejected Cazacu from the party after a corruption scandal at the airport implicated her daughter who was a customs officer. In a press conference announcing her position she stated that she would be come the “voice of all legislative initiatives of this party’s team” (as their only MP) and that "I had conversations with friends and colleagues with whom I worked at PAS. Most of them recommended that I continue working for the interests of Moldova together with Renato Usatii.9" For their part PAS representatives commented saying “this only confirms that the decision to expel Cazacu from PAS was correct.”
Ending on a High Note
Wow does a high note sound good about now. For today’s high note we’re sticking with the elections. The CEC announced that all first time voters will get a “surprise” in the form of a glow in the dark bracelet that says “My first vote is October 20, 2024.” They said that these bracelets would glow like “beacons of democracy.”
Other voters aren’t left out. For the first time all voters will get stickers that say “Am votat” (I voted).
Sometimes I feel as if I’m being buried under a deluge of insane news. Russia’s top pop stars releasing campaign videos, massive voter bribery schemes, arrests, detentions investigations, lies and propaganda. Moldova has never ever seen anything like this much attention from abroad - and most of it is an attack on the nation’s democracy.
But if we focus on this we forget the 42,000 young people who will be eligible to vote for the first time this weekend. We forget the thousands of poll workers who will volunteer their Sunday to help people vote. A bracelet may be a bit corny, but it is a reminder of what this is all about - the “demos” is about to express their opinion.
“Demos” is from ancient Greek and means “the people.” Democracy means “rule of the people.” Contrary to this genius priest the antonym is not some version of “rule by the angels” but instead “autocracy” or, “rule by self” or “rule by one.” In addition to this particular sermon being illiterate, it’s really on the nose for the pro-Russian position.
It’s hard to explain how big these guys are in Russia because it’s hard frankly to explain them at all. I asked my wife for a cultural analogy and she said that Stas Mikhaylov is like Russia’s Billy Ray Cyrus, Philipp Kirkorov is like Russia’s Cher and Nikolay Baskov is like… an Opera singer who also does pop songs? She admits it is a flawed comparison but if you have a better one I’m open to it. Suffice to say these are *big* deal stars. Philipp Kirkorov hosts almost every New Years Eve event in Russia and that is their biggest holiday of the year. Also… Philipp Kirkorov pushing a video attacking gay people is very cynical to anyone who knows literally anything about Kirkorov.
Ilan Shor’s wife Jasmine is herself a Russian pop star and he has had ties in this community for years.
Platon has previously been accused of “withdrawing” 126 billion rubbles from Russia during the 2013-2014 Russian Laundromat days.
Author’s analysis: This announcement, during a campaign and naming Platon (associated with Natalia Morari) and Usati is unlikely to be coincidence. We can’t know what is going on but it is possibly meant to distance one or both candidates from Russia.
He could have just stopped at “I feel entitled.” Munteanu withdrew his CUB party from the “Together” Block when he found that the common candidate selected was not him. He then tried to run himself and did not gather enough signatures. Now he is trying to keep in the news. All of this given that he has never polled at more than 1%.
Wait, aren’t they independent?
Aligning with to National Coming Out Day in the United States.
There is no love lost between TV8 and Natalia Morari. Particularly between Mariana Rata and Natalia Morari. For good reason.
The Socialist Party and other pro-Russian elements have recently begun circulating the talking point that Renato Usatii is actually an agent of Maia Sandu. Given his longstanding connections to the Russian Federation this seems implausible. Cazacu’s statements seem to intentionally feed this rumor especially as she said them in a day of press conferences with Usatii himself. Combined with the “Wagner” video and the Russian accusation of Usatii and Platon being involved in money laundering it appears like *someone* is really interested in distancing Usatii from Russia.