(Adnkronos) – An undeclared financier has emerged behind Calin Georgescu, the far-right, populist and pro-Russian candidate who surprisingly won the first round of the presidential elections in Romania. Considered as the Romanian “Elon Musk”, or even the “king of Tik Tok”, Georgescu’s supporter is linked to the cryptocurrency sector, and has made a name for himself with a campaign of significant donations, up to tens of thousands of euros, distributed to tiktokers. Georgescu, who was credited with 5 percent of the vote in the polls, won 22.9 percent of the vote in the first round, a relative majority that projects him, if the recount ordered by the Constitutional Court confirms it, to the run-off on the 8th. He did not declare any funding and ran his entire election campaign on TikTok.
The financier, Le Monde reconstructed, is active on the Chinese-owned social platform under the nickname Bogpr. He had been talked about for some time but not for his political role. His was a case followed by the gossip magazines. He intervened in the Tik Tok ‘lives’ by donating money to the content producers active on the platform. The explosions of joy of the beneficiaries of these donations had gone viral.
The tabloid Gandul identified him in recent days as Bogdan Peschir. But the origin of his fortune remains unclear. He has at least one company registered in his name in Romania, but with no employees and with an unclear corporate purpose. Under the identity of Bogpr, he was instead involved with the cryptocurrencies BitXatm and Globaya, the first of which no longer exists, closed after a scandal: the money deposited in bitcoin currency exchange machines had been withdrawn by the service operators.
Together with Bogpr, Gabriel Prodanescu also appeared in the corporate structure of the two cryptocurrencies, who presents himself as CEO and founder of Globaya and owns several other companies in England, including Bcb Atm, another cryptocurrency ATM company with employees in Russia.
Before Prodanescu’s arrival, at the helm of Bcb Atm was a person with previous convictions for complicity in aggravated robbery with violence and torture. Bogpr had begun supporting Georgescu as early as 2020, during the pandemic, when the then completely unknown, and remained unknown until about three months ago, far-right exponent had spoken out against vaccines. His personal website, now closed, until last Wednesday offered “protection” services for TikTok accounts, promising help to escape the sanctions of moderators.
Following the revelation of his identity in the media, Bogpr posted a message on TikTok describing himself as a “Romanian entrepreneur and investor” with no connection to the state or Freemasonry. And of not having received any promise or remuneration in exchange for the support assured to Georgescu. “I don’t even know him personally, and I don’t think I’m doing anything immoral by supporting a campaign that I believe in. Just as Elon Musk supported Trump’s campaign in the United States by securing him $100 million and promoting it on X and in his public speeches,” he said.
