Radio România Internațional

Tag: corruption cases

  • Major corruption trials

    Major corruption trials

    Supporters and
    critics of Social-Democrat strongman, Liviu Dragnea, gathered at the
    headquarters of the High Court of Cassation and Justice on Monday, expecting a
    final ruling in the case involving the fictitious employment at the Teleorman
    Directorate General for Social Assistance and Child Protection. The Court will
    issue a final ruling on May 27. The last court appearance was on Monday, and
    the National Anticorruption Directorate requested Dragnea be sentenced for
    abetment to forgery in deeds as well, thus increasing his prison time. In June
    2018 Liviu Dragnea was handed a 3 year and 6 months prison sentence for
    abetment to abuse of office by the High Court of Cassation and Justice as the
    court of first instance.

    Prosecutors provided evidence supporting the
    allegation that the Social-Democrat leader helped fictitiously hire two persons
    who were members of the Social Democratic Party’s local organization at the
    Social Assistance Directorate during his time as head of the Teleorman County
    Council. Although the two were working exclusively for the Social Democratic
    Party, their salaries were paid from public money. Anticorruption prosecutors
    claim Liviu Dragnea coordinated and controlled the Directorate’s activity.
    Liviu Dragnea did not appear before the Court this Monday, his lawyers trying,
    to no avail, to obtain a new delay after June 5, when the Constitutional Court
    is expected to rule on the three-judge panel system for the High Court.

    The
    Chamber of Deputies vice-president Florin Iordache referred a possible judicial
    conflict between Parliament and the High Court of Cassation and Justice over
    the panels specializing in acts of corruption. Iordache claims the High Court
    refused to set up specialized panels, as the law stipulates regarding the
    prevention, investigation and sanction of acts of corruption. The move was
    interpreted by Dragnea’s opponents and critics as a new attempt via his
    compliant aide to scrap Dragnea’s sentence in the fictitious employment case.

    Also on Monday the former Social-Democrat Mayor of Constanta, Radu Mazare, was
    extradited by the authorities in Madagascar, where he was trying to obtain
    political asylum. Radu Mazare was sentenced to 9 years in prison in a case
    involving the illegal assignment of plots of land, beaches and seafront in
    Constanta, the biggest city on the Black Seacoast. A former journalist and
    politician and a controversial and eccentric public figure, Radu Mazare abused
    his office as mayor to serve his own interests. The former mayor has other
    prison sentences issued in his name, some of which are not yet final. Radu
    Mazare is not the only former official who fled the country trying to dodge
    corruption trials. Former Minister Elena Udrea and the former head of the
    National Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, Alina
    Bica did the same, both of them now living in Costa Rica.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • February 27, 2016 UPDATE

    February 27, 2016 UPDATE

    CORRUPTION – The High Court of Cassation and Justice on Saturday greenlighted the pre-trial 30-day arrest of MP Nicolae Paun, representing the Roma community in Parliament. Paun was taken into custody on Thursday by anti-corruption prosecutors in a case where he is accused of embezzling European funds and money laundering. Prosecutors say that together with Social-Democratic MP Madalin Voicu, Nicolae Paun planned to embezzle 6 million euros worth of funds addressed to the Roma community. Voicu is investigated on bail, after deputies last week voted against the request to place him on pre-trial arrest. In another development, the High Court of Cassation and Justice on Friday greenlighted the pre-trial arrest of Liberal Senator Doina Tudor. In 2013 Doina Tudor allegedly helped her former husband, Daniel Tudor, at the time the vice-president of the Financial Surveillance Authority, receive 200,000 euros in bribes from an insurance company in exchange for helping it pass an audit. Daniel Tudor was placed on house arrest pending the investigation.



    SYRIA – The situation was quiet on Saturday in the main conflict areas in Syria after the Russian-American ceasefire has come into effect. The agreement applies only to a small part of Syrian territory, as jihadists, the Islamic State terrorist organization and the Al-Nusra Front are controlling more than half of the territory. Russia on Saturday announced it stopped all airstrikes in Syria as per the ceasefire agreement. The UN Security Council in a resolution on Friday called on all parties involved in the Syrian civil conflict to observe the terms of the agreement and to allow the quick and safe access of humanitarian organizations nationwide. The Council insisted that the Syrian Government and opposition resume talks under UN mediation. This is the first ceasefire of its scale since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, killing over 270,000 people. Over half of the countrys population has fled Syria, the large number of immigrants destabilising the Middle East and Europe.



    VISIT – EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova will pay a visit to Bucharest on Monday. The European official will meet with Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, Justice Minister Raluca Pruna, Labour Minister Claudia-Ana Costea, as well as other MPs. Talks will focus on various topics, including the progress Romania has reported in reforming its justice system, the judiciarys contribution to the European Commission priorities, such as the Single Digital Market and the European Security Agenda. Commissioner Jourova will attend a discussion panel attended by NGOs operating in the field of Roma integration, to discuss Romanias experience in terms of implementing the national strategy for the integration of the Roma.



    CONFERENCE – Minister Delegate for Romanians Abroad Dan Stoenescu on Friday attended the conference “Repatriot – Entrepreneurship through Repatriation, held in Munich. The purpose of the event was to raise the awareness of Romanians abroad regarding the need to develop entrepreneurial skills and to present business opportunities back home. Also on Friday Minister Stoenescu met with Herta Daneil, the head of the Federation of Transylvanian Saxons and with Peter-Dietmar Leber, the chairman of the Association of Banat Swabs in Germany. On this occasion, the Romanian official highlighted the importance of the Romanian community in Germany and of the German community in Romania for bilateral relations between the two countries.



    MISSILE – A missile on Friday hit the military base in Kandahar, Aghanistan, where Romanian military are also stationed. According to a press release of the Romanian Defence Ministry, no victims and material damage have been reported. The entire personel of the military base followed procedures and took shelter in special areas. Romania has over 600 military deployed in Afghanistan. The Ministry is carefully monitoring their mission and all safety measures and procedures.



    RUGBY – Romanias national rugby team trounced Russia 30-nil on Saturday at home in the European Nations Cup, the second most important European competition after the Six Nations Tournament. In the first two games, Romania defeated Portugal 39-14 on home turf and Spain 21-18 away from home. In March Romania will also play Germany and Georgia in the competitions highlight match. We recall at in autumn, the team coached by Lynn Howells of Wales took part in the World Cup in England, where it defeated Canada and lost to France, Ireland and Italy in the group phase.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The Judicial System at Full Steam

    The Judicial System at Full Steam

    In the last two or three years, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), the spearhead in the fight against the worm gnawing at the root of Romanian public administration, managed to make up for lost ground and lost time, and not just in terms of image. With a huge wave of investigations, many of them resulting in prison sentences, the Directorate has managed to get through the message that no one is above the law, irrespective of reputation, position, political affiliation or influence.



    What is more, for the first time in the judicial history of post-Communist Romania, a standing public senior prosecutor is under criminal investigation. The head of the organized crime division (DIICOT), Alina Bica, who headed an organization with an otherwise good image, was indicted in an investigation for abuse of public office. She is accused of irregularities committed while she was an undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice, and member of a committee that operated retrocessions, the process of returning to former owners lands and real estate confiscated by the communist regime under nationalization. In 2011, she and two colleagues, also under investigation, are alleged to have facilitated restitution payments for a piece of land 13 hectares in size, near Bucharest, payments which were based on a gross overvaluation, ending up costing the Romanian state 62 million Euros.



    At the same time, also on Thursday, the Supreme Court approved the motion filed by anti-corruption prosecutors for the pre-emptive 30-day arrest of Social Democratic MP Ioan Adam, whose party currently dominates the ruling coalition. He is involved in a case that similarly involves the return of nationalized properties, which this time caused damages worth 300 million Euros. At the same time, the Supreme Court decided that Conservative MP Ion Dinita, whose party is also in the ruling coalition, should be investigated without detention, but under judicial restrictions. Dinita is suspected of illegal action in handling public contracts in the city of Brasov. In his case, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate estimates damages to the state budget at 7 million Euros.



    Both rulings of the Supreme Court are not final, and the three cases do not bring anything new in the judicial landscape in the country. The three under investigation, well placed in the higher echelons of public administration at the time of the alleged violations, were using well-established corrupt practices, such as overvaluation, illegal retrocession and preferential public acquisition contracts. Then again, the Directorate is working on no less than 4,800 cases at this time. In spite of corruption taking more and more inventive forms, the National Anti-Corruption Directorate chief Laura Codruta Kovesi has issued a message: ‘They can’t outsmart us.’