Romanian court rules three-year prison term for former mayor, now MP and for businessman who bribed him

Antonie Solomon, the former mayor of Romanian city of Craiova and currently a Member of the Parliament from the Popular Party Dan Diaconescu (PPDD), was recently sentenced to three ears in jail with execution in a corruption file. The same sentence was given to businessman Cornel Penescu, the founder of the PIC retailer in Pitesti, who had bribed the mayor back in 2010. Solomon was also sentenced to one year in prison for intellectual forgery, but he will serve the biggest sentence, according to the Romanian law. The court also decide that EUR 50,000, the money which Solomon took as bribery, will be confiscated. Two other people were also sentenced in this file: Dragoş George Stancu- one year in a half in jail, with parole, and Gheorghiţă Pieca, one year in jail for parole. The decisions are not final and can be further appealed. Antonie Solomon was accused of having received EUR 50,000 from Cornel Penescu to help him with several services in the city of Craiova. The court trial started in 2010, when Penescu, who was also the financier of FC Arges football club at the time, was also arrested for a period of time. It was then the second arrest for Penescu, who had also been arrested the year before, also for bribery but in another case involving his football team. editor@romania-insider.com