More big names go behind bars in Romanian corruption cases

Two more corruption cases start to untangle in Romania and involve big names: a former mayor and minister, an ex-chief prosecutor, and several well-known businessmen, some of whom are already under preventive arrest. Former Bucharest mayor and Economy Minister Adrian Videanu is currently under arrest, together with a well-known businessman’s son. The High Court of Cassation and Justice decided on their 30-day preventive arrest on Saturday, January 31. Videanu serves time for complicity in abuse of service while Alin Cocos, the son of businessman Dorin Cocos, for bribery and influence trading. The case is connected to the illegal land retrocession file under which the former chief prosecutor of the organized crime directorate DIICOT Alina Bica and businessman Dorin Cocos are also serving preventive arrest. Authorities also recently arrested Bica’s former counselor Florentin Mihailescu for complicity to bribery. With Bica and Cocos already serving time in this case and for their involvement in another file, the Microsoft IT licenses case, the other three will join them in arrest. The court’s recent decision is not final and can be further appealed. The former Bucharest Mayor allegedly asked Alina Bica to lift the seizure of the shares he held in marble producer Titan Mar. Bica apparently helped Videanu in February 2014by lifting the distraint, which allowed him to sell the shares for some EUR 62,000. His case does not directly connects to, but surfaced during the investigations for the overpriced property compensations paid by the National Authority for Property Restitution (ANRP). Bica was a member of this authority, before becoming DIICOT chief. She has been serving time in this case since December 2014. Alin Cocos allegedly worked with his father Dorin – former husband of ex-presidential candidate Elena Udrea, herself under Police investigation these days. Prosecutors believe father and son have asked for and received EUR 16 million in exchange for influence over two members of the National Authority for Property Restitution, one of whom was Alina Bica. They helped the briber get the green light and recover property in two retrocession cases. The investigations unveiled two other well-known Romanian businessmen’s connection to the people investigated in these cases. Former mayor Videanu allegedly helped businessman Ioan Niculae’s firm Interagro, and by doing so, endangered the country’s national energy grid on the natural gas segment. Videanu, 52, was the mayor of Bucharest between 2005 and 2008, and then Economy Minister for two years. He is also a businessman in the marble and granite industry via the company Titan Mar. Businessman Ovidiu Tender’s name also appears in one of the files. He allegedly bribed Alina Bica while she was running DIICOT, and while the institution probed the RAFO – Carom case where Tender was under investigation. Tender ended up getting an 11-year jail sentence in December 2014, a decision that can be further appealed. The businessman recently turned informant against Bica, and told the authorities about the bribe he gave her – some shares – via an intermediary.