Romanian judge sentenced to four years in jail for corruption

The Romanian Judge Maria David, from the High Court of Cassation and Justice, was sentenced to four years in jail for corruption, after being accused of receiving over EUR 200,000 from a business man in order to interfere with the justice system and trade her influence with colleagues. The court decision is not final and can be further appealed.

The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) also decided that Maria David will lose some civil rights for two years after serving her sentence in jail. She was also obliged to pay back the EUR 200,000 to businessman Petru Blanda. The decision is not final and can be appealed to the five judges panel of ICCJ. According to the Anticorruption prosecutors, between November and December 2009, Judge Maria David requested and received from the businessman Petru Blanda EUR 200,000, promising instead that will influence the judges of the Court of Appeal Ploiesti, where Blanda's three year jail sentence was being debated. Blanda's conviction came for tax evasion. The businessman himself was the informant in this case, even though he had known the judge for years, ever since university. David was sent to court in March this year, after a bust organized earlier in February. David was a judge in Targoviste, then moved to the Ploiesti Court of Appeal, and later promoted as Supreme Court Judge. Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com