Former Moldovan president is on Russian payroll, investigation finds
Igor Dodon (Photo:Igor Dodon / Facebook)
After leaving office, former President of Moldova Ihor Dodon relies on allowance from Kremlin-associated oligarchs, investigative journalist group RISE Moldova reported on Nov. 7.
Journalists write that Dodon now has his own non-governmental organization, Moldovan-Russian Business Union, where he approved his own salary – ten times higher than his presidential salary.
The total annual salary of the ex-president of Moldova for 2022 is planned to be 1.6 million lei ($325,000). Along with the bonus, he receives 202,000 lei per month (more than $10,000) every month.
The investigation says that money for Dodon's salary comes from Russia.
RISE Moldova journalists, together with the Russian Dossier Center, discovered six bank transfers to the account of Dodon's organization for almost 5 million lei (around $1 million).
Almost every tranche coincided by anti-Western or pro-Russian statements from Dodon and his associates.
The money comes from the Russian organization Delovaya Rossiya, which is funded by Russian citizen Ihor Chaika – son of the former Russian prosecutor general and Dodon’s business partner.
According to the findings of U.S. authorities, the Kremlin and associated Moldovan politicians are using Chaika's companies as cover for funneling money into collaborating political parties in Moldova. They also stated “some of these illegal campaign funds were intended for bribes and election fraud (in Moldova).”
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