A third jail sentence for Romanian businessman and football boss George Becali came as the court decided earlier on Tuesday (June 4) to sentence him to three years in jail in a bribery case nicknamed 'The Briefcase'. The recent court decision, which is final, will not alter the existing sentence Becali is currently serving, three years in jail in a land exchange case. A first jail sentence came for Becali in a case involving kidnapping the person who had stolen his car. According to the Romanian laws, he will serve the longest of the sentences.

The recent court decision came four and a half years after the case was opened. In May 2008, Gigi Becali tried to give a EUR 1.7 million bribe to the football players of U Cluj, and transported the money in a briefcase- hence the name of the case. The money was supposed to convince the football players to win a game against CFR Cluj, in a match which was decisive for the Romanian football championship. Football club Steaua, whose financier Gigi Becali is, would have won the championship should U Cluj have won the decisive match.

Becali was recently sentenced to three years of jail time, and is now imprisoned at the Rahova jail in Bucharest. The former Member of the Parliament and European MP received the jail penalty or the MApN (Defense Ministry) land exchange case. Former minister Babiuc and former Chief of Staff General Dumitru Cioflină also received two-year jail sentences.

According to the bill of indictment, between 1996 and 1999, the Defense Ministry, which managed the state owned land in Voluntari, near capital Bucharest, exchanged some land plots – 28.8 hectares with Gigi Becali. This land exchange cost the Romanian state a total amount of over USD 890,000. Commemorators argue that the land plot exchange back in the 90s helped Becali start his fortune, as he became known for several land plot deals in the Northern area of Bucharest, which landed him among Romania's richest.

editor@romania-insider.com