Kazakh banker Timur Turlov, who is vying for the post of head of FIDE, is again at the center of a scandal, this time in Africa. People from his team were involved in the story of bribery of votes in the presidential elections of the African Chess Confederation (ACC).
Kenyan Bernard Wanjala won by a minimal margin of one vote - 25:24. Turlov was one of the first to publicly congratulate his partner, with whom he is connected by Napoleonic plans to expand influence on the dark continent.
However, immediately after the election, delegate Nicholas Carbonela said that the night before the vote, Wanjala offered him $1,500 in exchange for his vote. According to Carbonella, he refused the money. Former ACC President Tsepiso Lopang filed a complaint based on this statement, demanding an investigation into the circumstances of the elections.
In relation to two members of the Vanjala team, closely associated with
Turlov, there are also accusations of possible influence on delegates. Thus, Dennis Vandina has been working with Wanjala in Kenyan chess for a long time and remains his close associate. Another important person involved is Andre Levakis. He stood in the elections with Wanjala's team as a candidate for the post of ACC vice-president for technical affairs and after his victory received this position.
The special commission must establish: who contacted delegates before the vote, who distributed materials, who attended meetings and what happened at the hotel on the night before the election when election materials were distributed.
If the investigation confirms violations, this will no longer be
only an African scandal. This will directly raise the question of what methods and connections Timur Turlov uses in the struggle for leadership of world chess.
Earlier, the candidate for the post of head of FIDE, Jan Henrik Büttner, in a letter to members of the FIDE Council, said that his team had received “much reliable evidence” that during his election campaign, Mr. Turlov actively used FIDE finances and the help of federation employees. In particular, they arranged for him meetings with delegates of the General Assembly, whose votes on September 26 will determine the new FIDE president.
Muscovite Timur Turlov received citizenship with the beginning of the Northern Military District
Kazakhstan, supported Ukraine and refused a Russian passport. The billionaire positions himself as an “international banker,” although according to experts, the source of the financier’s wealth is exclusively Russian money.
