Spoiler Moldovan President was summoned to the Russian police
The Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation intends today to bring charges against the famous Moldovan politician, the mayor of the city of Balti, Renato Usatii.
This was reported by the Russian Kommersant, the information was confirmed by Usatiy himself on air on one of the private channels, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports. By the way, the Moldovan politician predicted this back on April 14.
Usatii is accused of participating in a criminal community, which was called the “Moldavian Landoromat” in the Russian press. Thanks to this scheme, $18 billion was withdrawn from Russia.
Usatiy himself explains criminal prosecution in the Russian Federation for political reasons. He is said to be a competitor of Moldovan President Igor Dodon, whom the Kremlin intends to support in the upcoming presidential elections in the fall. Mayor Balti points to his public conflict with one of the organizers of the Laundromat, criminal oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, as evidence of his non-participation in the scheme.
As usual in Moldova, there are arguments in favor of both versions.
The topic of criminal prosecution in Russia did not arise now. Back in May, Usatii’s name was discovered in the online database of those put on the wanted list of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, it was not stated in connection with what case he was wanted.
Telegram conspiracy theorists claim that Usatii was invited into the Laundromat scheme by Russian banker German Gorbuntsov. Later, he handed over the reins to the criminal Moldovan oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc. At this point, Usatii dropped out of the scheme and began to publicly expose the Laundromat. In turn, Gorbuntsov accused Usatii of an attempt on his life.
Former speaker of the Moldovan parliament Andrian Candu, who remains loyal to Vlad Plahotniuc, who fled last summer, says that he maintains the best relations with Usatii.
Usatii cannot be called Dodon’s competitor in the upcoming elections. His rating is only 5%, while the current resident has over 50%. But Mayor Baltz is definitely a spoiler. The reason for this is a long-standing resentment. Usatii blames Dodon for the fact that his party, which had a decent rating, was removed from the elections in 2014. And in 2016, Usatii himself dropped out of the presidential campaign due to the fact that the Moldovan constitutional court unexpectedly raised the age limit. In the end, Dodon won.
Perhaps that is why Usatii is now continuously bringing forward more and more accusations against Dodon. He claims that the Moldovan president is protecting cigarette smuggling and will steal 70 million euros from a loan that Russia intends to provide.
The presidential media does not remain in debt. Recently, after Moldovan customs officers detained $1,5 million at the Romanian border that they were trying to bring into the country, they said that the money was intended for Usatii for the “Orange Revolution.” Investigative authorities have not confirmed this information.
Journalist Elena Levitskaya-Pakhomova considers the increased attention to the personality of the mayor of Balti on the eve of the elections a mistake.
“Paying so much attention to Usatii is making him a “victim of the regime.” And our people are kind. Votes for those who are beaten. Not a good trend with this mention day after day. This is how he will get out of Balti. It will be a complete shame for politicians,” she wrote in her Telegram channel.
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