Romania's Tax Agency recovers EUR 4.2 mln in Microsoft licenses case

Romania’s Tax Agency ANAF has recovered RON 19.45 million (EUR 4.2 million) in the Microsoft licenses case after selling 13 buildings seized from those convicted in this case. Authorities seized the buildings following a court decision from March 24, 2016. “These are retail spaces and have been sold at higher values than the prices established by the valuators,” according to the ANAF press release. In total, authorities need to seize almost EUR 18 million from the four people convicted in the Microsoft licenses case, according to a court decision from October last year. The Microsoft case reached court in March 2015 and ended in October 2016. It involved fraudulently granting Microsoft licenses for ten years. The case was one of the most notorious corruption cases in Romania in the last years, with re-sellers selling overpriced Microsoft licenses to the state. Former mayor Gheorghe Stefan received six years in prison, former minister Gabriel Sandu got a three-year sentence whereas the investor Dorin Cocos got two years and four months in prison, the same sentence as investor Nicolae Dumitru. Romanian court rules higher jail sentences in Microsoft licenses case editor@romania-insider.com