$200,000 for the show
Philip Kirkorov was supposed to perform at a concert in Chisinau on June 19 and was paid for by the Shor party under investigation in Moldova, informs Deschide portal. Marina Tauber, the party’s vice-president, was arrested last week.
In June, mass protests by the opposition began in Moldova. Many residents of the country are dissatisfied with the current government, high prices and falling living standards.
Moldovan Acting Attorney General Dimitri Robu said Shor did not specify in the financial report the costs of holding mass events in the capital.
The authors of the article noted that the National Anti-Corruption Center has released an audio recording discussing the tens and hundreds of thousands of euros paid by the Shor party to Russian artists for concerts.
According to law enforcement officials, Kirkorov would receive $200,000 for attending the event. Another Russian artist – Alisher Morgenstern (known in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent) – was to be paid 60 thousand dollars. However, the concert was blocked by the police, who did not allow the opposition to set the stage.
Tauber was accused of the party failing to reflect the artist’s wages on the financial statements. He is sure that the pro-European Movement and Solidarity Party, which controls the parliament and the government, is behind the prosecution’s decision. Shor’s vice president expressed his readiness to cooperate with the investigation to restore justice.
testimony in defense
Tauber’s lawyer Aureliu Kolenco told the NewsMaker portal that Philip Kirkorov should come to Moldova and testify in defense of the Shor party vice president.
“We have proof that Marina Tauber is innocent. They were supposed to be presented by Philip Kirkorov, ”she said.
He is sure that this is the reason why the Russian artist was not allowed to enter Moldova. Kolenko added that lawyers will appeal this decision.
According to Deschide, a large number of foreign citizens were denied entry to Chisinau International Airport tonight.
It was decided not to allow some foreign citizens to enter the Republic of Moldova at Chisinau International Airport. In a statement by the Moldovan border police, it was determined that the conditions for permission to cross the state border were not met.
The portal also published footage of Kirkorov’s communication with law enforcement agencies. The incident occurred at the exit of the VIP lounge of Chisinau airport.
But the artist’s father, Bedros Kirkorov, said that his son was resting in Greece. He insists that the information regarding the entry ban to Moldova is inaccurate.
“It was okay, if something had happened, I would have known. Do not believe this fake news, ”said the Zvezdanews Telegram channel.
Ekaterina Uspenskaya, the press secretary of Philip Kirkorov, confirmed to socialbites.ca that the artist is still not allowed to enter Moldova.
“I learned. I know what they say at the border: “The tourism destination has not yet been considered due to the state of emergency,” he said.
According to open sources, in 2018 Kirkorov was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Moldova. And People’s Artist of Ukraine since 2008. But in 2021, on the basis of a letter from the SBU, he was included in the list of people posing a threat to Ukraine’s national security. Three days later, his name was removed from the list without explanation. In addition, Kirkorov has been banned from entering Lithuania since January 2021 and Estonia from April of this year.
criminal prosecution
According to the Deschide portal, the National Center for Anti-Corruption, along with the Intelligence and Security Service and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, conducted searches “linked to illegal financing” of the Shor party.
Law enforcement officials are confident that the party “deliberately accepts money of dubious origin from the criminal group, which is used for the party’s interests.” Allegedly, the same funds went to the wages and salaries of the artists and the organization of the protests.
“The money of the criminal group arrived in the Republic of Moldova in the form of transfers and conversions, including in cryptocurrency. And various financing channels were used, such as Dubai, Vienna, Monaco, to hide the source of the funds, ”says the article.
Law enforcement “documented several incidents” in which the party allegedly paid 600,000 euros in the first half of this year, with declared expenses just over 228,000 lei (11,609 euros).
“From the same criminal sources, party members would be paid a monthly salary of 100,000 euros and more than 3.5 million lei would be used to transport protesters,” the authors of the material said.
At the same time, the expenditures announced by the party in the first half of the year, exceeding 20 million leu, significantly exceeding the 1.7 million lei stated as the source of financing for the party.
Source: Gazeta
