A recent investigation by the London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic has unveiled a leak of documents linked to Ilan Shor, a Moldovan fugitive and ally of Vladimir Putin. The data sheds light on Shor’s alleged involvement in using crypto to evade sanctions and influence the upcoming parliamentary elections in Moldova.
In 2022, he was sanctioned by the United States for his alleged efforts to disrupt democratic processes in Moldova. Per the report, Shor has been behind extensive vote-buying schemes for pro-Russian candidates and orchestrating disinformation campaigns aimed at discrediting the pro-European government.
A7 is partly owned by Promsvyazbank (PSB), a state-owned bank implicated in financing Russia’s defense sector and facilitating election interference in Moldova. The US sanctioned A7 in August 2025, further complicating its operations.
In a speech to Putin, Shor claimed that A7 facilitated 7.5 trillion rubles ($89 billion) in cross-border transactions over ten months, with a significant portion linked to Asian markets.
One of the key revelations from the leak is a slide titled “Internal Settlement Scheme of Group A7,” which illustrates how payments are routed through various companies, primarily in Kyrgyzstan—a country with strong financial ties to Russia.
For instance, an employee identified as “athena1098” requested a transfer of two million USDT for treasury purposes, linking back to a wallet that has processed over $677 million.
Another aspect of the leaks is the introduction of A7A5, a Ruble-backed crypto designed to avoid Western sanctions. Issued through a Kyrgyz company, A7A5 has seen substantial adoption, with 41.6 billion A7A5 tokens currently in circulation.
According to Elliptic’s findings, Moldovan police have already issued warnings about Taito’s role in voter bribery. Other initiatives mentioned in the documents include projects for political polling and a Telegram bot designed to facilitate crypto payments.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
