What did Romania’s former Finance Minister have in his safe?
Former Romanian Finance Minister Darius Valcov, currently investigated for corruption, kept several valuable items in a safe, including money, gold and paintings, all of which believed to be the results of his illegal activities.
The former minister, whose affairs from back when he was mayor of Slatina in 2009 are currently under investigation, kept some of his wealth in a safe deposited at a friend's place in a village in Olt county. Prosecutors found USD 90,000 in the safe, some RON 1.3 million (the equivalent of some EUR 300,000), three gold bars weighing 3 kilos, a Renoir painting, a Jean Cocteau painting, and a wooden painting by local author Aurel Acasandrei. Valcov allegedly obtained all these illegally, via bribes.
Romania’s General Prosecutor Laura Codruța Kövesi has asked the Senate to approve a second arrest request for Valcov. Prosecutors found that Valcov continuously engaged in acts of corruption while he was also a senator and a minister.
The anticorruption prosecutors alleged Darius Valcov took EUR 2 million after helping a local businessman land a contract while he was the mayor of Slatina in 2009. The then mayor received 20% of the public contract during 2010, always directly and always in cash. The media wrote that Valcov even went to a cemetery once to receive the money.
Darius Valcov, who turns 38 this week, was Finance Minister from December 2014 to March 2015. He served two mandates as mayor of Slatina, from 2004 to 2012. In 2012, he moved from the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and won a seat in Romania’s Senate. After the investigation started and the media scandal broke, Valcov resigned from his minister seat.
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