Local businessman Avraham Morgenstern, who was sentenced to eight years in prison for tax evasion but managed to flee the country before the court's ruling, was detained in Buenos Aires.

The Police said the businessman presented the identity documents of another person when he was asked to identify himself, reports local News.ro.

In August this year, the Bucharest Court of Appeal sentenced Avraham Morgenstern to eight years in prison. The decision was final but couldn’t be applied as the defendant managed to flee the country although he was being investigated under judicial control. The last time he went to the police station, as required by the judicial control measure, was on May 8. Thus, the court issued an European arrest warrant on his name.

Anti-corruption prosecutors who handled the case accused Morgenstern, who was the manager of Shapir Structures at that time, of failing to properly register the revenues obtained from three contracts concluded with the Autonomous Company for Public and Private Domain Exploitation (RAEDPP) Constanta and Confort Urban Constanta, as well as the tax invoices related to these revenues. The case targeted the period 2009-2014.

The prosecutors said these activities were carried out to avoid paying taxes to the state budget, causing a damage of over EUR 10 million.

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com