Romanian media mogul gets 10 years in jail, no parole, for Food Research Institute privatization

Romanian media mogul and politician Dan Voiculescu, founder and owner of the Antena media group, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, without parole, for his involvement in the privatization of the Food Research Institute (ICA). Voiculescu as well as 12 others were found to have undervalued the Food Research Institute, and sold its assets via privatization back in the late 90s – early 2000s to companies owned by Voiculescu. The sentence for the media mogul is double the one issued by the previous court in September 2013, as well as the maximum by the Criminal Code. It also involves the confiscation of the headquarters of Antena 3 TV and of the group of companies Grivco, owned by Voiculescu. The court also ordered that Voiculescu’s daughters, Corina and Camelia, who are the official owners of the family businesses, have to hand over some RON 2.9 million each – some EUR 650,000, in exchange for the donation of ICA shares from Voiculescu to his daughters. The media owner’s bank accounts were frozen, and his house on Kiseleff boulevard was also seized. The court also decided to seize some USD 3.5 million, which is rent from Romtelecom. Apart from Voiculescu, 12 other people were sentenced to various terms in jail, with or without parole. The former director of the Food Research Institute, Gheorghe Mencinicopschi, was sentenced to 8 years in jail, for having undervalued the company he was running, and for forgery in the privatization process, among others. The prosecution against Voiculescu and the group of people involved in this deal started back in 2008, and the offenses happened between 1991 and 2003. The case against the media mogul was delayed on various occasions as several judges chose to recuse themselves, which further pushed the verdict. editor@romania-insider.com