On February 10, 2017, Moldova’s Audiovisual Coordinating Council (CCA) fined NTV Moldova, a regional office of Russian state-sponsored media outlet NTV, for broadcasting disinformation targeting Moldovan pro-Western presidential candidate Maia Sandu. The CCA cited programs in which NTV Moldova, and another channel titled Accent TV, misrepresented Sandu as a Western puppet and an enemy of the church. The channels also ran several stories claiming that Sandu had promised Western leaders that Moldova would welcome a large influx of Syrian refugees. The two channels are owned by pro-Russian Socialist Party MP Corneliu Furculi??. According to Moldovan media, Furculita has been linked to mysterious Russian off-shore accounts. A 2016 investigative report by RISE Moldova, alleged that Furculita acted as an intermediary between Russian financiers and the Socialist Party of Moldova.