Bogdan Peșchir, the mysterious donor on the social network TikTok associated with the account “bogpr” and targeted by searches Saturday, after the authorities launched an investigation into the financing of the campaign of Călin Georgescu, admitted, for Europe frees Romaniawho donated hundreds of thousands of euros to accounts promoting the independent candidate.
However, he claims that he did not make direct donations to Călin Georgescu.
“I think the amounts are correct, but that report (the declassified SRI report, no. a large part of the total amount. Long before the elections,” said Peschir.
He also claims that the charges brought by the authorities are “disinformation”.
“I did not finance a campaign, I donated to all kinds of TikTok accounts without asking for any favors or conditioning these donations to their political orientation. And when some accounts offered me to make a donation to support someone, I clearly told them that and I don’t want to do something like that, that everyone should voluntarily support whoever they want!
However, Bogdan Peșchir did not answer why he gave large amounts of money. But he wanted to say, instead, that “my donations were also to users without political content, social cases, users who supported other candidates or users who spoke negatively” of Călin Georgescu.
He also did not answer why he donated to accounts that criticized Călin Georgescu, although he also offered money to accounts that praised him. He also did not explain the proportion of the donations.
The reason why he supports Călin Georgescu
Bogdan Peșchir admitted, in the discussion with Europa Liberă, that he sympathizes with Călin Georgescu, but says that “the complete context in which he made these statements (controversial, no) must be taken into account and that it is enough for him to give the best explanations”. .
“My support for him is not absolute and eternal, but it is conditioned by the information at my disposal. If he deviates from what he said he was doing or clear evidence appears that he has obscure interests or wrong intentions, I will withdraw my support,” said Peschir.
“I did not make donations to Călin Georgescu”, he emphasized, in the discussion that took place on Friday, December 6, over several hours, with the journalist of the aforementioned publication.
“This document (of the SRI, ed) only mentions the supporters of CG, which seems absurd to me. I have not made any agreement with any person that I will give to support one candidate or another!”, added Peschir.
“I liked his speech, the impressive CV (of Călin Georgescu, no), the fact that he repeatedly tried to help the country through sustainable development projects. I like people with a vision, and I agree with he in many things, for example the fact that Romania has a huge potential! Unfortunately, with the current political class, the vision is reduced to “we will increase your pensions/salaries”, he specified, in another answer.
“I have no connection with Călin Georgescu, directly or indirectly. I have no material or personal interest”, added “bogpr”, despite the support he showed on social networks and thanks to the donations made to the accounts that they promoted Călin Georgescu.
The intelligence services charge, in the declassified documents, that Romania was the target of an “aggressive Russian hybrid action”.
Asked about this, Peschir says that his only connection with Russia is literature. “I have absolutely no connection with Russia, apart from the fact that my favorite author is Dostoevsky and my name has a meaning in the Russian language,” he said.
In Slavic languages, Bog or Boh means God, and Bogdan – gift of God.
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“Bogpr”, targeted by searches
Prosecutors of the General Prosecutor’s Office and Police officers – the Directorate for the Investigation of Economic Crime and the Directorate for the Fight against Organized Crime carried out, on Saturday morning, three house searches in the city of Braşov , aimed at Bogdan Peşchir, the one who financed Călin Georgescu’s campaign on TikTok with one million euros, according to judicial sources cited by Agerpres.
The Prosecutor’s Office specified, in a press release, that the investigation was carried out in the case of the commission of the crimes of corruption of voters, money laundering, computer fraud and the offense provided for by Art. 5 of the GEO n. 31/2002 regarding the prohibition of fascist, racist or xenophobic organizations and symbols.
“The investigations are aimed at the possible involvement of a natural person in the illegal financing of the electoral campaign of a candidate for the Presidency of Romania, through the use of sums of money that there are indications that they could come from the commission of some crimes, being later introduced in a money laundering process, “said the Prosecutor.
Judicial sources said that Bogdan Peşchir, who took care of financing Călin Georgescu’s campaign on TikTok with one million euros, was dismissed.
According to the documents presented by SRI to CSAT, Bogdan Peşchir used the account “bogpr”, through which he made donations on TikTok of more than one million euros.
After becoming a subject of public debate, the involvement of “bogpr” in financing the promotion of Călin Georgescu at the level of the platform was also confirmed by the representatives of TikTok in the dialogue with the Romanian authorities on the 28 of November 2024, SRI declared.
TikTok representatives confirmed the identity of the user “bogpr” and said that he made payments worth $ 381,000, between October 24 and November 24, 2024, to users of some TikTok accounts involved in the promotion of Călin Georgescu, even after the end date. of the electoral campaign, says SRI.
SRI shows that the financing of TikTok influencers was secured through the FameUp platform (dedicated to the monetization of promotional activities in the online environment), at the level of which the advertising opportunity was published , with well-defined descriptions. “One of the methods of attracting the collaboration of Romanian influencers to promote the candidacy of Călin Georgescu was to contact them by e-mail from the company (…), of South African origin, which offered the sum of 1,000 euro for the distribution of a video made by them,” SRI showed.
Bogdan Peșchir, on whom the Romanian Intelligence Service mentions that he donated more than 1 million euros for the promotion of Călin Georgescu’s TikTok, he is a former programmer, who worked in companies associated with cryptocurrencies of a dual citizen who emigrated to South Africa in 1995.
Bogdan Peșchir has a company in Brasov, established in 2021, according to SRI.
In addition, in the SRI documents, a company of South African origin is also mentioned involved in attracting Romanian influences to promote the candidacy of Călin Georgescu. According to SRI, it is about the company FA Agency, which contacted the influencers by e-mail and offered them the sum of 1,000 euros for the distribution of a video made by them.
