Moldova police say businessman Shor channelled $24 million to pay off voters

FILE PHOTO: Members of an electoral commission count votes after polling stations closed in the course of Moldova's presidential election and a referendum on joining the European Union, in Chisinau, Moldova October 20, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

(Reuters) - Moldovan police said on Thursday that pro-Russian fugitive businessman Ilan Shor had channeled $24 million this month to pay voters in a presidential election and referendum on joining the EU.

The chief of the country's police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said at a briefing that Shor used Russia's Promsvyazbank for money transfers. Shor denies wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Peter Graff)