Corneliu Iacobov sentenced to 7 years in prison over Rafo Onesti fraud after previous exoneration

The Bucharest Court of Appeals sentenced business people Corneliu Iacobov and Toader Gaurean to seven and six years in prison, respectively, for defrauding the RAFO Onesti oil refinery. The Court also sentenced Marin Marin to seven years in prison, for abuse of office, and acquitted Liliana Luchian and the other defendants, charged with money laundering. Iacobov, Gaurean and Marin have been ordered to pay EUR 4.3 mln to RAFO and RON 7,000 each in court expenses to the state. In 2005, prosecutors indicted Iacobov, Gaurean, Luchian and Marin on charges of abuse of office, money laundering, criminal organization and false testimony, respectively but they were acquitted in 2008 by the Court of Bucharest, on the grounds that their alleged crimes are not stipulated in criminal law or do not exist. The ruling was challenged by the prosecutors. Mediafax