Latest news with #political funding
CNN
05-08-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Moldova jails pro-Russian regional leader for election fraud weeks before crucial vote
A court in Moldova has sentenced a Kremlin-friendly regional politician to seven years in prison for funneling money from Russia to finance a political party. Evgenia Gutul, the leader of Gagauzia, a historically pro-Russian ethnic region in southern Moldova, was detained in March on suspicion of electoral fraud and sentenced on Tuesday. Prosecutors said that from 2019 to 2022, Gutul channeled undeclared funds into the country to finance a political party founded by Ilan Shor, Reuters reported. Shor is a pro-Russian businessman who has been convicted of fraud in Moldova and now lives in exile. Gutul's conviction comes just weeks before Moldovans vote in a crucial parliamentary election, in which Maia Sandu, the pro-Western president of the former Soviet country, is hoping to retain her governing majority. Sandu was reelected as president last year in a vote held on the same day as a referendum on joining the European Union, which Moldovans backed by a razor-thin majority. Both votes were marred by what prosecutors said was a massive vote-buying scheme orchestrated by Shor, who has spent much of his time in Russia since he was convicted for his role in the 2014 theft of $1 billion from Moldovan banks. Before the referendum, Moldova's national police chief said some 130,000 citizens had received a total of $15 million from Shor in exchange for voting 'no' or persuading others to do so. The police chief said it was 'clear' that Russia was financing the scheme; Moscow has denied meddling in Moldovan politics. Gutul, a former secretary for Shor's now-banned party, was elected governor of Gagauzia in 2023. That election also drew accusations of vote-buying. Last year, Gutul was sanctioned by the EU for actions 'destabilizing' Moldova and promoting separatism in her region. Gutul denies wrongdoing and claims her prosecution was politically motivated. In March, she penned a letter to Donald Trump, claiming that she, like the US president, had been subjected to 'propaganda efforts and pressure from the corrupt globalist elites.' Responding to her sentencing Tuesday, Gutul said she would appeal the ruling, which she claimed was an attempt to intimidate Gagauzians 'who dare to vote' for a party other than Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). 'This decision has nothing to do with justice. This is a political reprisal, planned and executed on orders from above,' she wrote on Telegram. The Kremlin also claimed the verdict was politically motivated, and that Moldova was systematically suppressing the opposition. 'In effect, people are being deprived of the opportunity to vote for those they prefer. Of course, what we are seeing is a clear violation of democratic rules and norms in this country,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday. Moldova's parliamentary election will be held on September 28. Although Sandu's PAS won by a landslide in the last vote in 2021, Moldova has since faced major economic and security challenges spilling over from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stirring anti-government sentiment in parts of the country.
CTV News
18-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Unions dominated Alberta political donations in past decade
Over the last decade, Albertans, corporations and unions made 97,275 donations totalling $90.9 million to provincial political parties, candidates and third-party advertisers. (Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg) Between 2015 and 2024, Albertans, corporations and unions made 97,275 donations totalling $90.9 million to provincial political parties, candidates and third-party advertisers. Here's a breakdown of the biggest spenders and beneficiaries. Edmonton and Calgary led the province in donations, contributing 37 per cent and 30 per cent of the total dollar amount, respectively. Though corporations and unions were prohibited from making contributions directly to parties or candidates midway through 2015, they still outspent most individual donors through their funding of third-party advertisers and accounted for 18 of the top 20 largest donors of the last decade. For the top five donors, nearly all of the funds were transferred from unions and professional associations to their own registered political entities. The single largest donor of the last decade was the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), which gave over $6 million. The majority of the HSAA's cash, 92 per cent, was gifted from the union to its registered third-party advertiser. All of the Alberta Medical Association's (AMA) $1.8 million in donations went to the AMA third-party. Top 10 political donors in Alberta overall HSAA - $6.1 million AMA - $1.8 million Alberta Teachers' Association - $1.1 million United Nurses of Alberta - $998,103 National Police Federation - $ 709,759 UFCW Local 401 - $686,237 Merit Contractors Association - $466,249 Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association - $381,572 Association of Academic Staff of the University of Alberta - $221,229 Stanley Milner - $207,408 Milner, a prominent figure in Alberta's energy sector, died in 2021 , but still holds the top spot for individual donors in the last decade, giving more than twice that of the second highest contributor, Tourmaline Oil Corp. CEO Mike Rose . The top 10 individual donors were split evenly between Edmonton and Calgary. Edmonton Stanley Milner - $207,408 AAFund - $63,808; Alberta Advantage Fund - $75,000; Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta - $34,000; Shaping Alberta's Future - $25,000; United Conservative Party - $8,600; Edmonton-Calder PC Association - $1,000. Mary Katherine Williams - $41,442 Alberta NDP Lorne Dach - $40,679 Alberta NDP Christina Gray - $38,662 Alberta NDP David Eggen - $38,390 Alberta NDP Calgary Mike Rose - $100,000 AAFund - $50,000; Alberta Advantage Fund - $50,000 Patricia Cartwright - $52,186 Alberta Liberal Party Ian Cartwright - $48,485 Alberta Liberal Party Gordon Arnell - $47,050 Wildrose Party - $45,200; Pro-Life Alberta Political Association - $850; UCP - $1,000 Brad Shaw - $42,243 Alberta Advantage Fund - $30,000; UCP - $12,243 Brett McKay, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Investigative Journalism Foundation
