Fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor has obtained Russian citizenship and identity documents, Moldovan authorities confirmed on May 16, a move that runs counter to current legislation in the tiny country wedged between Ukraine and Romania.
Shor, who was sentenced to 15 years in June last year for his role in a $1 billion bank fraud and other illicit schemes, has been under both U.S. and European Union sanctions for his attempts to destabilize Moldova, one of Europe's poorest nations.
Shor, who founded the pro-Moscow Shor Party, fled Moldova following pro-Western President Maia Sandu's election in 2020 and has been reportedly hiding in Israel, whose citizenship he also possesses.
Shor was granted Russian citizenship and obtained a passport in January, according to information obtained by Moldovan authorities, police spokeswoman Diana Fetco said. Fetco said Russian authorities failed to officially notify Chisinau that Shor had become a Russian citizen.
Viorel Tentiu, the chief of the Moldovan brach of Interpol, told local media that Shor got Russian citizenship at the beginning of this year and now has three passports -- Moldovan, Israeli, and Russian -- although Moldovan legislation only allows dual citizenship.
The Shor Party was declared unconstitutional by Moldova's Constitutional Court and dissolved in June last after it organized months of antigovernment protests in Chisinau with the aim of toppling Sandu and her reformist government. Shor orchestrated the protests from abroad, addressing the rallies via video ink.
U.S.-educated Sandu has been working to shake off Moscow's decades-long influence on the former Soviet republic and bring the country closer to the European Union. Moldova received an invitation to open accession negotiations with the 27-member bloc in June 2022.
Separately, nine lawmakers formerly affiliated with the banned Shor Party announced in Parliament on May 16 that they have established a new parliamentary group called Victorie-Pobeda whose main aim is to unite the opposition against Sandu when she stands for re-election in October.
Following the announcement, speaker Igor Grosu ordered an "assessment" of the legality of the new group, which was reportedly formed on April 21 in Moscow.