Court issues international arrest warrant for Romanian businessman

Prahova Court declared Romanian businessman Florian Walter internationally wanted, after previously issuing an arrest warrant on his name. Romanian authorities investigate Walter in a case of tax evasion that damaged the state budget by EUR 4.5 million. He allegedly left the country at the end of April, before the start of the investigation, and was last located in Monaco, reports local Mediafax. However, no data indicates that he is still there. Romanian prosecutors and police searched the businessman’s home and companies’ headquarters on May 6. The authorities couldn’t find him and issued a warrant for the border police to hold Walter if he tried to leave the country. Florian Walter allegedly coordinated and organized crime group that included several ghost companies. The suspects reportedly signed fictitious contracts with ghost companies they controlled via intermediaries to avoid paying taxes. They would then use intermediaries to get the money out of those companies. One of the companies investigated in this case is Romprest, owned by Florian Walter. Romprest provides sanitation services in Bucharest’s District 1. Walter was also the main shareholder of FC Petrolul Ploiesti and Universitatea Cluj football clubs. Before that, he was one of the shareholders of Dinamo football club. Prosecutors also questioned Nicolae Capra in this case, one of the financiers of Petrolul Ploiesti football club. Media reports said earlier this month that Walter might be in Cuba. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com