Prosecutors from the National Anticorruption Department (DNA) started the criminal prosecution of Iasi county council president Maricel Popa, for three crimes of abuse of office.

Daniel Achitei, the former head of the Iasi County Road and Bridge Administration Department and a personal adviser to the county council president, is also being prosecuted for abuse of office and complicity to abuse of office, while the representative of a local company is charged with complicity to abuse of office. The prosecutors are also investigating the company involved in this case, SC Eky Sam SRL.

Iasi county council president Maricel Popa is accused of abusively terminating three contracts for road maintenance in Iasi county.

“In the context of a media scandal created in connection with the maintenance work carried out on the county road 248 A, the suspect Popa Maricel stopped the work invoking irregularities, without any technical expertise,” reads the DNA press release.

Moreover, in the same manner, the county council president excluded a company from the associations of companies that won two of the contracts for roadwork, and replaced it with one that was “approved.” This has caused a damage of more than RON 717,000 to that company.

In another case, with the help of Daniel Achitei, a snow removing contracts for the county's roads in the period January 1 - March 15, 2017, closed with the same company, was cancelled and then awarded to SC Eky Sam SRL. This has brought an undue benefit of RON 1.1 million to SC Eky Sam SRL, according to the prosecutors.

Prosecutors search Iasi county council president’s office

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