Former deputy director of Romania’s Agricultural Payments Agency, under house arrest for 30 days

Aurel Pana, the former deputy general manager of Romania’s Agency for Payments and Intervention in Agriculture (APIA), will be under house arrest for 30 days, following a final decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. During house arrest, Pana is not allowed to leave his residence in Bucharest without judicial permission and he must appear before the judge of the preliminary chamber and before the court whenever he is called. He is not allowed to communicate with other defendants or witnesses in the case either. According to the Court of Appeal’s decision, quoted by local Mediafax, in case the defendant will not respect this measure or his obligations, “house arrest may be replaced by preventive custody”. On November 8, 2013, the National Anticorruption Directorate DNA ordered the prosecution of Aurel Pana, deputy general manager of APIA, for bribery and influence peddling, and Mugur Voinea George - director of Evalserv Standard SRL, for influence peddling and complicity to bribery. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com