Top Officials’ Telegram Accounts Hacked in Moldova

The Telegram accounts of Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu were hacked on Wednesday evening by cyber attackers who have not yet been identified.

Messages were posted from the hacked accounts against Moldovan Justice Minister, Sergiu Litvinenco.

The attackers published alleged private conversations attributed to Litvinenco from which it appeared that he had rigged a contest for the election of the head of the Prosecutor’s Anti-corruption office, Veronica Dragalin.

Before her instalment this autumn, Dragalin was an anti-corruption prosecutor in the United States. Justice Minister Litvinenco denied trying to influence the contest.

“The so-called discussions that circulate in public, apparently from my Telegram channel, are ordinary fakes. The purpose of this fake is to divert public attention from the real problems faced by criminal groups in Moldova and their connections with foreign services,” Litvinenco wrote on his Facebook page.

The Telegram accounts of the top officials were hacked right during a government meeting where it was decided that the Justice Ministry would refer to the Constitutional Court a request to outlaw the Ilan Shor Party.

Sor was the suspected mastermind behind the “billion dollar theft” from three private Moldovan banks between 2012-2014. He is about to receive a final sentence in absentia following the 2017 first-instance sentence of seven-and-a-half years.

Shor is currently hiding in Israel, where he organises paid protests against the Moldovan government, according to prosecutors and media investigations.

Both Shor, oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc and 19 other Russian and Moldovan citizens were placed on the Magnitsky sanctions list of the United States on October 26.

They are accused of collaborating with Russia to destabilise Moldova and usurp the pro-European government.

The government says several other Telegram accounts belonging to state officials were hacked besides those of Sandu and Andrei Spinu.

“Several false pieces of information have been placed on these accounts. Efforts are now being made to eliminate the consequences of these cyber-attacks and to restore the integrity of social media accounts,” “Prima Sursa [First Source]” Telegram channel owned by the Chisinau authorities said.