Fugitive Moldovan tycoon offers $3,000 a month to anti-government protesters
Fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor has offered Moldovans monthly payments of $3,000 to join anti-government protests, in a bid to undermine Moldova's pro-European government ahead of parliamentary elections next month.
Moldovan officials have regularly accused Moscow of meddling in their domestic politics by stoking pro-Russian sentiments in a subversive campaign to topple the government as it bolsters ties with the West, accusations Moscow denies.
Shor, under Western sanctions for efforts to destabilise Moldova on Russia's behalf, said he would make daily payments to each protester totaling a monthly $3,000 if they began protesting in the capital Chisinau starting on Saturday.
"Yes, I am...compensating you in such a way that already from Saturday you'll feel the effects of the victory that we will soon achieve," he said in a video posted to social media.
He added that accounts for payment would be opened up directly at the protest site.
Moldova's National Police said in a statement that Shor's message was "criminal incitement" and warned Moldovans they risked investigation if they engaged with the offer.
"Law enforcement will not allow criminal groups to organise illegal protests aimed at causing disorder and violence. Any attempt will be firmly rejected within the legal framework, the police statement said."
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Business Lower-wage retail workers to receive up to 6% pay bump from Sept 1
Singapore Keppel to sell M1's telco business to Simba for $1.43b, says deal expected to benefit consumers
Singapore ST Explains: Who owns Simba, the company that is buying M1?
Singapore Telco price undercutting expected to subside after sale of M1 to Simba: Analysts
Singapore ST Explains: What is Vers and which HDB estates could it be rolled out in?
Singapore For Vers to work, compensation should account for varied needs of HDB flat owners: Observers
World US military is preparing to deploy National Guard in Washington, DC, official says
Singapore Ong Ye Kung rebuts complaints about treatment of stallholders at Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre
Moldova says Shor, who was convicted of helping steal $1 billion from the country's banking system in 2014, is Moscow's primary agent of influence. Officials have barred his party from standing in elections and banned media assets linked to him.
Earlier this month, a Moldovan court jailed a pro-Kremlin regional leader for channelling money from Russia between 2019 and 2022 to finance Shor's party.
A small former Soviet republic situated between Ukraine and EU and NATO member Romania, Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on September 28. The ruling party is aiming to hold on to its majority to keep the country's pro-European trajectory intact. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
41 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Myanmar military chief calls for heightened security ahead of election
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Myanmar's military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin Wall in central Moscow, Russia, March 4, 2025. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Myanmar's military chief has called for increased security for political party members and candidates as a newly formed interim government proceeds with a planned election in December and January that has been dismissed in the West as a sham. Min Aung Hlaing, who is also the war-torn country's acting president, asked authorities to take measures for protecting politicians and voters, while warning of a rise in attacks on civil servants in the run up to the polls, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Wednesday. "The Senior General highlighted that the election must be held without fail," the state-run publication said, referring to comments made by Min Aung Hlaing at the first meeting of a new commission formed to hold the polls. With opposition groups either barred from running or refusing to take part, the planned election has been dismissed by Western governments as a move to entrench the generals' power and is expected to be dominated by proxies of the military. Military-backed authorities last year held a nationwide census in an effort to create voter rolls but were only to able to conduct on-ground surveys in 145 out of Myanmar's 330 townships. Myanmar's military this month nominally transferred power to a civilian-led interim administration to conduct the election, four years after Min Aung Hlaing led a coup that unseated an the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover triggered widespread protests and eventually sparked a civil war, where an array of established ethnic armies and newly-formed armed groups are battling the well-armed military on multiple frontlines. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore NEL, SPLRT disruption: Electricity surge shut down backup power switchboard, says LTA Singapore HSA seeks Kpod investigators to arrest abusers, conduct anti-trafficking ops Singapore Yishun man admits to making etomidate-laced pods for vaporisers; first Kpod case conviction Opinion The 30s are heavy: Understanding suicide in Singapore's young adults Singapore Lawyer who sent misleading letters to 22 doctors fails in bid to quash $18,000 penalty Singapore 4 taken to hospital after accident near Sports Hub, including 2 rescued with hydraulic tools Asia Malaysia's anti-graft agency busts arms smuggling ring masterminded by senior military officers Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story In Tuesday's meeting in the capital Naypyitaw, officials reviewed military operations in preparation of the polls and reinforcing security through the formation of "people's security" groups, the newspaper said. A military-led council last month also introduced new electoral laws aimed at improving security, containing punishments ranging from a minimum of three years in prison to the death penalty. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Poland charges group with sabotage on behalf of foreign intelligence
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox WARSAW - Polish prosecutors have charged a group of six people with offences including sabotage commissioned by foreign intelligence services, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Poland says its role as a hub for aid to Ukraine has made it a target for Russian and Belarusian secret services, accusing Moscow and Minsk of commissioning acts of sabotage such as arson on Polish soil. Russia and Belarus have rejected such allegations. The prosecutors' office said the trigger for the investigation came from information uncovered during a probe into the activities of Ukrainian citizen Serhii S, who was jailed earlier this year for planning sabotage on behalf of Russia. "The evidence obtained in this case indicated a suspicion that an organised criminal group operating in Poland engaged in recruitment and organisation of sabotage activities for foreign intelligence agencies," the spokesperson said in a statement. "The actions of foreign intelligence agencies were aimed at generating public unrest and creating a sense of helplessness among state authorities through sabotage and subversion." Prosecutors said that there were three Polish defendents (Kamil K, Dawid P and Lukasz K) and three Belarusians (Stepan K, Andrei B, Yaraslau S). Polish privacy laws prevent media from publishing the surnames of people charged with crimes. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Business Singapore banks face headwinds in rest of 2025, but DBS is pulling ahead: Analysts Singapore Yishun man admits to making etomidate-laced pods for vaporisers; first Kpod case conviction Singapore HSA seeks Kpod investigators to arrest abusers, conduct anti-trafficking ops Asia Malaysia's anti-graft agency busts arms smuggling ring masterminded by senior military officers Asia Mixed reactions among Malaysia drivers on S'pore move to clamp down on illegal ride-hailing services Singapore 4 taken to hospital after accident near Sports Hub, including 2 rescued with hydraulic tools Business Singapore life insurance sales surges in first half, led by boost in investment-linked plans Singapore SG60: Many hands behind Singapore's success story The indictment relates, among other things, to an arson attack allegedly commissioned by a foreign intelligence agency on a pallet storage facility in Marki, central Poland, in April 2024, prosecutors said. It also relates to attempted arson at a warehouse in Gdansk in March 2024, which was allegedly commissioned by foreign intelligence, and arson attacks on a restaurant in Gdynia in 2023. Four of the defendants were charged with acts of sabotage commissioned by foreign intelligence. The group also faced other charges related to arms trafficking, drug trafficking, and other criminal offences. Stepan K and Dawid P pleaded not guilty, the statement said. Andrei B, Yaraslau S and Lukasz K partially pleaded guily, while Kamil K admitted to all the charges against him. REUTERS
AsiaOne
an hour ago
- AsiaOne
Russia has won war in Ukraine, Hungary's Orban says, World News
BUDAPEST — Russia has won the war in Ukraine, right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday (Aug 12) ahead of a summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. In power since 2010, Orban has been criticised by some European leaders for his government's ties with Russia and opposition to military aid for Ukraine, while his cabinet is struggling to revive the economy from an inflation shock. Orban, who has maintained close ties with Putin even after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, became the only European Union leader on Monday not to endorse a joint statement saying Ukraine should have the freedom to decide its future. "We are talking now as if this were an open-ended war situation, but it is not. The Ukrainians have lost the war. Russia has won this war," Orban told the 'Patriot' YouTube channel in an interview. "The only question is when and under what circumstances will the West, who are behind the Ukrainians, admit that this has happened and what will result from all this." Hungary, which gets most of its energy from Russia, has refused to send weapons to Ukraine, with Orban also strongly opposing Ukraine's EU membership, saying it would wreak havoc on Hungarian farmers and the wider economy. Orban said Europe had missed an opportunity to negotiate with Putin under former US President Joe Biden's administration and now was at risk of its future being decided without its involvement. "If you are not at the negotiating table, you are on the menu," Orban said, adding that he partly opposed the EU's joint statement on Ukraine as it made Europe look "ridiculous and pathetic." "When two leaders sit down to negotiate with each other, the Americans and the Russians... and you're not invited there, you don't rush for the phone, you don't run around, you don't shout in from the outside." [[nid:721301]]
