Former president of the Arges County Council Constantin Nicolescu was sentenced to eight years in prison by the magistrates of the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Friday.

He was charged with EU funds fraud, related to contracts for the reconstruction of two bridges in the county. The damage amounts to EUR 1.2 million.

The decision is not final and can be challenged at the supreme court, reports local News.ro.

Grigore Dobre, manager of the Pitesti construction company Zeus, was also sentenced to five years in prison in the same case for complicity to abuse of office. The first court had sentenced Constantin Nicolescu to nine years and six months in prison for fraud with EU funds.

In 2009, the Arges County Council organized two tenders for the reconstruction of two bridges affected by floods. The officials falsely claimed that the two bridges had been affected by floods, although one of them had been previously damaged, so it was not eligible for the project, according to the National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA).

The contract was illegally attributed to the company Zeus, managed by Grigore Dobre, although the tender had been initially won by a company which had a better offer. Constantin Nicolescu received a commercial space in Pitesti worth about EUR 100,000 as bribe from Grigore Dobre for awarding him the contract.

editor@romania-insider.com