Quick Hit #19: Igor Dodon Detained on Charges of Treason
May 25, 2022
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Today we’re going to use the Quick Hit format in the way it was originally intended. We’re looking at one developing story and will track its twists, turns and likely future trajectory. We’ll be back later this week with a full roundup of the news in Moldova.
Igor Dodon Detained by Prosecutors
On May 24th, Moldova’s former President Igor Dodon was detained by anti-corruption prosecutors working with the National Anti-Corruption Center and the Security and Information Service (SIS) following nearly 11 hours of searches at his house and other properties. He is suspected of passive corruption, illegal enrichment, treason and financing of a political party by a criminal organization.
Background of the Search
The charges stem from the “Kuliok” or “bag” case where in 2019 then President Dodon was filmed receiving a plastic bag, presumed to be filled with a cash bribe, from criminal oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc. Criminal cases stemming from the alleged bribe were dropped by prosecutors affiliated with the Plahotniuc and Dodon regimes and the case was dormant until May 17, 2022 when the Chisinau Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision allowing the case to be dropped and opening up the possibility of a new prosecution.
A link to the famous video of the bag being exchanged:
The Marathon Search
In the context of reopening the case, anti-corruption prosecutors and SIS agents raided Dodon’s house as well as 9 other buildings and 3 cars owned, directly or indirectly, by the former President.
Searches at Dodon’s house were conducted in his presence as well as one other suspect who was reported to be his brother in law. Across the various sites searched authorities found 680,000 lei, 17,000 euros and $1,000 in cash as well as many expensive luxury goods. At one point during the search, Mr. Dodon’s brother in law attempted to eat evidence showing 700,000 euros in property transactions. Following the searches authorities chose to detain the 2 men explaining there was further risk of them attempting to destroy evidence. Both men are presumably being held at the National Anti-Corruption Center and are pending charges.
In a statement following the searches the prosecutor announced that goods were found valued at 10’s of millions of lei comprising of cash, cars, real estate, luxury goods, etc. In one case, the prosecutor noted documents indicating that the Dodons had taken tourist excursions valued at over 4,000,000 rubles paid by unknown persons ($70,000 at time of writing… but the ruble has changed a lot lately and the date of the trip in question is now known).
In another case, a receipt for 25,000 euros of kitchen remodeling work was found. Following up on this point investigative outlet ZdG discovered that the purchase was made from commercial kitchen supplier Horeca Grup SRL. Galina Dodon apparently left a cash deposit for this amount with the owner of Horeca Grup personally to guarantee the import of high end kitchen equipment. When the equipment was imported the deposit was repaid and the goods were paid for by Galina’s brother’s company which has an Agro Pensione in the village of Moldovata. This is an unusual arrangement to say the least and points to the Dodon’s having access to large amounts of cash.
Prosecutors note that all of this information will all be checked against Mr. Dodon’s and his wife’s combined declared yearly income of around 400,000 lei (~$20,000) to find evidence of illegal enrichment.
The timing of the searches and detention has drawn a lot of attention in society and on social media. Mr. Dodon was detained on President Maia Sandu’s birthday which she spent traveling in the US ahead of giving a commencement speech at her alma-mater Harvard. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gavrilita is also out of the country leading the Moldovan delegation at Davos.
Justice Minister Litvinenko commented on the searches saying the following:
“Although I do not know the details of this case and how events will develop, I firmly believe that politicians should not be immune from liability, since everyone is equal before the law,”
The Socialist Party Response
In response to the detention of Mr. Dodon supporters protested outside of parliament and at the protest the leader of the Socialist Party Vlad Batrincha stated the following:
“This is terror against the opposition on Sandu's birthday. The authorities are irritated by criticism for not fulfilling their duties. Ask the people in the neighborhoods, do they live better? People cannot afford the necessary minimum. We, the opposition, represent at least a third of the population in parliament, we are responsible people, but we have not supported any of our legislative proposals. Instead, they launched a crackdown on the opposition. But we will not give up,”
Recall, Igor Dodon stepped down as the leader of the Socialist Party in favor of a quasi-politburo arrangement lead by Mr. Batrincha. At the same time, Mr. Dodon is bar far the most well known member of the party and the de-facto public face of the Socialists.
Mr. Batrincha and party leadership additionally gave a press conference attacking the detention as politically motivated and designed to distract from rising prices and an increasingly dire economic situation.
Additional protests were held on May 25th where around 100 persons attended.
On May 25th, Igor Dodon released a statement through his lawyers blaming the PAS party for a politically motivated prosecution, noting that his arrest will not solve the country’s problems, and claiming his innocence. He said (in part):
"Dear citizens, I want to assure you that for every element that is of the interest of the prosecutors I have the necessary explanations and justifications, to remove any suspicion or suspicion of corruption and illegality. This is a political file sewn with a yellow thread. And I am sure that politically correct and uncontrolled judgment will set me right."
International Reaction
Addressing the detention of Mr. Dodon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the following:
“Firstly, this is an internal affair of Moldova. Secondly. Of course, we are alarmed that again such a practice and persecution is used against those who are supporters of the development of friendly and mutually beneficial relations with the Russian Federation, that is, with our country. Therefore, of course, we would like to hope and would like to be sure that all legal rights of Dodon will be respected,”
The Head of the EU Delegation in Moldova noted that they will “observe but not interfere” noting that no one should be above the law but also that it is critical to respect the rights of opposition parties.
Analysis - What is Going On?
To say that the detention of Dodon has surprised and shocked people in Moldova is an understatement. In a society that often embraces conspiracy theories the coincidence (or not) of all of this happening on Maia Sandu’s birthday has fueled speculation and theories. These range from “this was a Russian plot to discredit the PAS government” to “PAS is trumping up charges to eliminate its opposition” to “prosecutors intentionally timed this as a ‘gift’ for Maia Sandu without her knowledge.”
What is abundantly clear is that prosecutors will have a lot to work with. On the occasion of his arrest investigative outlet ZdG published a summary of 10 years of articles about Igor Dodon’s unexplained wealth which he accumulated from his entry into politics through today. The Dodon family owns many properties, takes lavish vacations and shows off their wealth in instagram posts and on social media. None of this can be accounted for from the official income of a public servant or from the family’s wealth declarations filed yearly.
At the same time, the charges are interesting - “passive corruption, illegal enrichment, treason and financing of a political party by a criminal organization.”
Public information explains corruption, illegal enrichment, and perhaps “financing of a political party by a criminal organization” in the form of the plastic bag of money from Mr. Plahotniuc. Targeting Mr. Dodon for prosecution simply as a corrupt politician sends a strong message and, with sufficient evidence, could warrant the risk of detaining a former head of state.
Treason however has raised eyebrows and implied something else might be going on.
Back during the 2021 parliamentary elections we wrote about reporting from the German newspaper Bild detailing the Russian government’s covert and illegal assistance to the Socialist party. This story involved laundering massive amounts of cash through NGOs and companies in order to fund the party and Mr. Dodon’s electoral prospects. If accusations such as these are driving the prosecutors the charge of “treason” begins to make more sense.
Why Target Party Financing Now?
In the context of the war in Ukraine, criminally targeting Russian influence looks both like a law enforcement action as well as a national security policy. Russia has very publicly backed Mr. Dodon and the Socialist party, and should hard evidence come to light of criminal financing or a provable quid-pro-quo this could be exposed and prosecuted.
Looking beyond Russia, party financing is arguably the greatest threat to Moldova’s past and present political stability. While the country has strong campaign finance laws the only major party believed to have actually followed them in recent history is PAS. Parties have traditionally benefited from a wealthy oligarch’s financial support, illegal schemes including use of state owned enterprises to support the party in power, and illicit foreign support - namely the Kremlin. Cutting off illicit campaign finance would not only mean that parties would need to raise money locally for their TV ads but it would also make impossible the widespread “vote buying” in the form of cash payments or “gift bags” for poor voters that has been alleged in every recent election cycle.
In conclusion, these prosecutions could be the targeting of a single corrupt politician or they may be a national security driven law enforcement strategy to crack down on foreign influence in Moldova. We’ll have to wait for the formal charges to know more.