Former chief of Romanian regional Driving License Service gets jail time

The former head of the Arges Driving Licenses Service Gheorghe Vlasceanu and his former deputy Vasile Voinea were recently sentenced to six years in prison each for having fraudulently issued driving licenses in Romania’s Arges county. The judges from the High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the appeals made against the previous sentence in this case, ruled by the Targu Mures Court of Appeal on February 14, 2012, reports local Mediafax. Thus, at the retrial, the Supreme Court reduced Vlasceanu’s sentence from 14 to 6 years in prison for taking bribe, and removed certain civil rights for a period of three years, as an additional penalty. His previous arrest, between June 14, 2008 and august 7, 2009, will also be subtracted from his sentence. Vasile Voinea, Vlasceanu's former deputy, was also sentenced to six years in jail for taking bribe. In his case, the sentence was also reduced from 11 years and eight months. Judges from the High Court of Justice also reduced the sentences ruled by the Targu Mures Court of Appeal for the other defendants in the case. The Court’s decision is final, reports Mediafax. In December 2008, prosecutors from the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) sent 28 people to trial for fraud during the driving license exams organized at the Arges Public Service for Driving Licenses and Vehicles Registration. According to the Anti-Corruption Agency DNA, the criminal group claimed and received money between 2006 and 2008 from several people to help them to fraudulently obtain driving licenses from the Arges Driving Licensing Service. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com