Romanian businessman investigated for bankrupting his own company

Romanian businessman Cristian Fughina, the former owner of local IT&C retailer K Tech Electronics that used to operate the Ultra Pro Computers shops, was called in for questioning by the prosecutors of the Organized Crime Investigation Directorate DIICOT, on Wednesday, September 17. The businessman, his wife Alina Fughina and his father Stefan Fughina are being investigated for the alleged controlled bankruptcy of their company, K Tech Electronics, and for tax evasion and money laundering, with total damages estimated at EUR 10 million, according to Digi 24 news station. The three are suspected of having pulled money from the company, which they placed into off-shore companies. As a consequence, the company accumulated EUR 40 million in debt to the state and to private banks and suppliers, and then went bankrupt. The prosecutors already conducted searches at the suspects’ homes, as well as at one of the Ultra Pro Computers headquarters and at other people’s homes. In total, 18 people are investigated in this case. K Tech Electronics, which had been established by Cristian and Alina Fughina in 1997, reached more than EUR 60 million in sales in 2008. In 2009, the company’s sales fell dramatically and in 2010 it went bankrupt. At that moment, the company had EUR 28 million in debt. The largest creditor was Banca Romaneasca, who had loaned EUR 3.5 million to the company. editor@romania-insider.com